Guwahati: The Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday reimposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in six police station areas across five districts of trouble-torn Manipur, including violence-hit Jiribam, in view of the escalating violence.
In a notification issued by the MHA, the ‘Disturbed Areas’ status – which was in place for all of Manipur except 19 police stations in the state’s Meitei-dominated valley areas – has now been extended to the jurisdictions of Sekmai and Lamsang police stations in Imphal West, Lamlai in Imphal East, Moirang in Bishnupur, Leimakhong in Kangpokpi, and Jiribam police station.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) empowers an officer of the armed forces to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even causing of death “against” any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order” if they are of the opinion that it is necessary. It also disallows prosecution of persons acting under the Act except with the sanction of the Central government.
The MHA stated that a review of the situation in Manipur found that the situation continues to be volatile and “intermittent firing in violence-prone areas continues in the fringe areas of Bishnupur-Churachandpur, Imphal East-Kangpokpi-Imphal West and Jiribam districts”.
It also stated that in many of these incidents, there have been instances of the active participation of insurgent groups in heinous acts of violence. It stated that the imposition of the ‘Disturbed Areas’ status in these six areas was warranted to “carry out well-coordinated operations by the security forces to maintain the security situation and contain the activities of insurgent groups in these areas”.
The decision to include six of the excluded police station areas under AFSPA comes days after an encounter in Manipur’s Jiribam resulted in the deaths of 11 suspected militants during a gunfight with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.
