Fresh Gunfire Reported in Mixed Population Areas of Bishnupur
Bishnupur (Manipur), Dec 17: Fresh security concerns surfaced in Manipur’s Bishnupur district after unidentified armed persons carried out a brief firing incident in the district’s peripheral zones on Tuesday night, prompting heightened vigilance in the sensitive mixed-population belt, officials said.
According to police sources, gunshots were heard in and around the Torbung and Phougakchao Ikhai areas, located close to the Bishnupur–Churachandpur district boundary. While multiple rounds were reportedly fired, authorities confirmed that no casualties or injuries were reported.
Soon after the incident, senior police officers led a large deployment of security personnel to the affected locations. Extensive search and area domination operations were launched to track down those responsible, with forces maintaining a strong presence through the night.
The sudden firing created fear among residents living near the foothills, particularly as the incident came just a day after hundreds of people displaced by earlier ethnic violence had begun returning to their homes in Phougakchao Ikhai and nearby villages.
Meanwhile, security agencies have intensified their counter-insurgency operations across the state. In coordinated actions over the past 24 hours, joint teams arrested five militants linked to two banned outfits from multiple districts and seized arms, ammunition and communication devices.
A police spokesperson said the arrested individuals were associated with the proscribed People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP). They were apprehended from different locations in Bishnupur, Imphal West and Imphal East districts. Several mobile phones and other incriminating materials were recovered from them.
Investigations revealed that the arrested militants were allegedly engaged in extortion activities, forcibly collecting money from contractors, government employees, traders and civilians.
In a separate operation, security forces arrested a suspected drug trafficker, identified as 53-year-old Suimi Awungshi from Kamjong district, in Imphal East. Around one kilogram of brown sugar, valued at approximately Rs 20 lakh, was seized from his possession.
Officials said intelligence-led combing, cordon-and-search operations are being carried out extensively across Imphal Valley as well as hill districts to curb militant activity, extortion networks and drug trafficking.
During these operations, security forces also recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from Thoubal and Imphal East districts. The seized weapons included an SMG carbine, a .303 rifle, multiple single-barrel breech-loading guns, 12-bore firearms, modified rifles, pistols and hand grenades, along with a large quantity of ammunition.
Authorities said joint teams of central and state forces continue to carry out aggressive crackdown and area domination exercises, particularly in fringe, vulnerable and mixed-population zones, to prevent any escalation of violence and restore stability in Manipur. (Edited)