Drones used in Manipur violence may have been assembled locally

Government source reveals local assembly of drones and looted ammunition used in unprovoked attack on Meitei villages in Manipur.

The drones used to bomb two Meitei-dominated villages in Imphal West district in Manipur on September 1 were likely assembled locally and ammunition looted from police armouries were used in the attack, a government source told The Hindu.

The source said the “unprovoked offensive” from the drones was launched from the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas in the hills interlaced with mortar firing.

The source added that recently the security forces have been given clear instructions from the Union government to shoot anyone trying to cross the ‘buffer zone’ between the valley and hill areas to launch an attack.

“A large number of civilians in the valley and the hills have guns. Since armed people in the hills were finding it difficult to come close to the buffer zones as shoot-at-sight orders are in place, they used drones to drop the ammunition on Meitei villages. They are claiming that this was done to prevent a planned ambush by Meitei radical group Arambai Tenggol, which is uncorroborated,” the source said.

The Kuki Inpi, an apex body of the Kuki tribes, said it was a “calculated attempt to ambush Kuki-Zo civilians”, which led to a heavy exchange of fire between Meitei groups and Kuki-Zo volunteers. Two persons, including a woman, were killed in the September 1 attack on Koutruk and Kadangband villages in Imphal West district, bordering Kuki-Zo dominated Kangpokpi district.

Director General of Police Rajiv Singh visited Kadangband village on Tuesday where a local alleged that a Border Security Force (BSF) team deployed there “locked them” inside their camp and refused to fire in retaliation despite multiple pleas. A source in the BSF said that a platoon was deployed in the village to provide security to workers engaged in constructing barracks and they were not part of the regular troop deployment.

“The Central Reserve Police Force and Manipur Rifles are deployed there and they retaliated promptly,” the BSF source said.