WEB DESK: Violence erupted in Manipur on Saturday, November 16, 2024, following reports that the bodies of six individuals—believed to be women and children who had been missing since November 11—had recovered from a river along the state’s border with Assam.
In response to growing protests, demonstrators targeted the homes of Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh and several other MLAs in Imphal, demanding their resignation if they failed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Protestors set vehicles ablaze and marched through the streets, intensifying unrest in the state capital.
To control the situation, the state government imposed a curfew in the districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur, as well as temporarily suspending mobile internet and data services across seven affected districts in the Imphal Valley. The area is predominantly inhabit by the non-tribal Meitei community, while the surrounding hills are home to the tribal Kuki-Zo groups.
Rajkumar Imo Singh, the son-in-law of Chief Minister Biren Singh, was among the MLAs whose houses attacked. The Chief Minister’s residence on the outskirts of Imphal also reportedly targeted by a mob late Saturday. Before the curfew took effect at 4:30 p.m., crowds gathered outside government buildings and the homes of elected officials, chanting for the MLAs to step down if they could not ensure peace and punish those responsible for the deaths of the women and children.
