Tension in Manipur's Churachandpur as police detain two for vandalising Modi's cutouts
Churachandpur/ Imphal, Sep 14 (PTI): A mob clashed with security forces in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Sunday, protesting the detention of two youths for allegedly vandalising the banners and cutouts put up for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police said.
On the night of September 11, several banners and cutouts put up at Pearsonmun and Phailien Bazaar were vandalised. Following that incident, several youths were detained. While all of them were released after questioning, two youths were kept in custody, they said.
Demanding their immediate release, a mob started demonstrating near the Churachandpur police station. The situation subsequently escalated, and they hurled stones at the security forces.
The situation eased once the police released the two youths.
Police had previously claimed that the two were arrested.
"The two individuals were not randomly detained as claimed by the protesters, but were picked up from the site of vandalism for questioning," an officer of the district police said.
Modi visited the state on Saturday for the first time after ethnic clashes broke out between Kukis and Meiteis in May 2023.
He addressed a public rally in the Kuki stronghold of Churachandpur and Meitei-dominated Imphal, promising to make the state a "symbol of peace".
He also met the people affected by the violence and unveiled a slew of developmental projects.
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Trump says he called off dispatching envoys to Iran talks
Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”
