Guwahati/Imphal: The Manipur government suspended mobile internet services in Imphal West district and clamped indefinite curfew in some areas of the state as counter-economic blockade supporters torched over 20 vehicles on Sunday.
The government reviewed the fast deteriorating law and order situation as the landlocked state plunged into a fresh cycle of violence following Friday’s serial blasts and an alleged attack on a church.
Locals in Imphal Valley have been running counter-economic blockade drives at various places, pulling down essential commodities from vehicles headed for hill districts for the last few days.
Residents of the state have been facing acute hardships because of the blockade on two key national highways enforced by Manipur’s apex Naga organisation, United Naga Council (UNC), on November 1 following the state government’s announcement of formation of seven new districts, four of which have been formally inaugurated.
The UNC has accused the Congress government of indulging in racial politics by dividing the Naga-inhabited area of Manipur into different districts. Political observers claim that the government has been trying to appease the Kukis through the move, opposed by the UNC.
The government action on Sunday follows a 24-hour bandh called to protest hill-based militants' attacks on the Manipur police across the state that left three policemen dead and 14 others injured on Thursday. The militants also snatched several weapons from jawans of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) on Saturday.
