The Manipur government has formed a five-member committee comprising officers of the State police, Army and paramilitary forces to probe the recent drone attacks on villages in the Imphal West district.
The committee was formed on Monday (September 2) following two incidents of drone-assisted bombing in as many days, killing two persons and injuring 12 others, including a television journalist.
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The panel, headed by Additional Director General of Police Ashutosh Kumar Sinha, has a member each from the Army’s 57 Mountain Division, the Assam Rifles, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security Force.
The mandate for the committee is to “critically examine and study” the drones deployed by the extremists, including the “collection of all evidence, specifications of the drones used and how to effectively counter such drones”.
Earlier on Tuesday (September 3, 2024), Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said using drones to drop bombs on civilians was an act of terrorism.
“Dropping of bombs on civilian population and security forces by using drones is an act of terrorism and I condemn such cowardly acts in the strongest terms. Manipur State government takes such unprovoked assault with utmost seriousness and will take up necessary response to fight such forms of terrorism upon the indigenous population,” he said on X after touring the villages under attack on Monday (September 2, 2024).
“We denounce all forms of violence, and the people of Manipur shall unite together against hate, division, and separatism,” he added.
Editorial | Another escalation: On the Manipur ground report
In June, The Hindu reported that extremist and radical groups on either side of the ethnic divide in Manipur were acquiring drones and spares to – as the security forces feared – add a new dimension to their conflict.
The Assam Police had conveyed the concern to their Manipur counterpart after seizing intelligent flight batteries and other drone parts from supply agents and associates of Manipur-based extremists belonging to both warring communities – the Kuki-Zo and the Meitei.
The ethnic conflict between these two communities began on May 3, 2023, killing more than 220 people and displacing about 60,000 others. Almost all the displaced have since been living in relief camps.
Meanwhile, the Kuki Inpi Manipur condemned a “deliberate attempt to ambush Kuki-Zo civilians” in areas bordering the Imphal Valley and Churachandpur district. The apex Kuki organisation accused members of the radical Arambai Tenggol, Meitei extremist groups and the State forces of launching a coordinated attack on Kuki-Zo “village volunteers”.
