On Tuesday, a police officer was slain in Moreh, Manipur, after being fired at by suspected militants.
The event occurred as Moreh Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Chingtham Anand was reviewing a recently constructed helipad at the border town’s Eastern field.
The SDPO was brought to a primary healthcare facility in Moreh, where he died from his injuries.
The authorities have initiated a manhunt for the extremists.
The ‘cold-blooded assassination’ of Anand has upset Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
“Deeply disturbed by the cold-blooded killing of SDPO Chingtham Anand, OC Moreh Police this morning,” Singh said on X, the erstwhile Twitter. “His commitment to serving and protecting the people will be remembered forever.” The offenders will be held accountable.”
The event occurred only days after members of many civil society organizations, notably those located in Moreh, sought the withdrawal of state soldiers from the border town, according to PTI.
Manipur has seen widespread violence since confrontations erupted on May 3 in Churachandpur town. The violence occurred when tribal organizations called for protests against a planned change to the state’s reserve matrix that would award the Meitei community scheduled tribe (ST) status.
The violence quickly spread across the state, which has significant ethnic divides. At least 175 people have died since then, and almost 50,000 have been displaced across the state. Hundreds of homes were burned, businesses were destroyed, studies were disrupted, places of worship were turned to ashes, and the state was without internet for months.
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According to officials, mobs looted 5669 different types of weapons and almost 500,000 rounds of ammunition from police stations and armories. Until the first week of October, only about 1300 of them had been rescued.
