The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ordered the withdrawal of around 5,000 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel from Manipur.
The two Lok Sabha seats in the violence-hit State will witness polling on April 19 and April 26.
A senior government official said that the MHA had ordered the pulling out of 50 companies (each company has around 100 personnel) of CAPFs, mainly drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF), from the violence-hit State.
Ethnic violence erupted in the State on May 3, 2023, which was followed by large number of killings, arson, looting of police armouries, and displacement of thousands of people. The ethnic tensions between the majority Meitei community and the tribal Kuki-Zo people has claimed at least 200 lives so far.
The MHA has been trying to optimise the presence of CAPFs across the country in the wake of the Lok Sabha election that commences on April 19 and will be held in seven phases till June 1.
After violence erupted in Manipur, around 36,000 personnel from the Indian Army and the CAPFs were deployed in the State, with a sizeable presence in the “buffer zones” between the Valley areas dominated by the Meitei people, and the hill districts, where the Kuki-Zo people live. This was done to keep the armed groups from both communities from attacking each other.
The official said that the police will have to work with the limited resources provided and ensure a smooth election.
Published - April 10, 2024 12:40 am IST
