Manipur: Security forces ensuring truck movement with essentials
Imphal (PTI): Trucks carrying essential commodities to violence-hit Manipur are plying with special security cover to ensure that there is no shortage of goods in the Northeastern state, a defence spokesperson said on Sunday.
The Army and Assam Rifles along with the state government, Manipur Police and central armed police forces are working to provide protection to vehicles carrying such goods to and from Imphal via NH 37, the defence spokesperson said.
Prophylactic Area Domination Patrols of Army and Assam Rifles, Quick Reaction Teams operating from Company Operating Bases located along NH 37, aerial surveillance by unmanned aerial vehicles and Cheetah helicopters, Companies of CRPF and Manipur Police personnel along with persons from India Reserve Battalion have been tasked to ensure the security of civilian vehicles plying on NH 37, he said.
To guarantee dedicated security, vehicles are also accompanied by Quick Reaction Teams of the Manipur Police and CRPF, he added.
Truck movement to the Imphal Valley had stopped due to roadblocks and fear among transporters as clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
"As a result, the stock of essential supplies in the state was dwindling and beginning to reach critical levels which resulted in planning movement through NH 37," the Defence PRO, Imphal, said.
Movement of trucks on NH 37 commenced on May 15 and security forces remain committed to restoring complete normalcy, the spokesperson said.
The violence in Manipur was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
The ethnic clashes claimed over 70 lives and some 10,000 army and para-military personnel had to be deployed to restore normalcy in the northeastern state.
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Dalit outfits call state-wide hartal over dental student’s death
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Various Dalit organisations on Monday announced a state-wide hartal seeking justice in the death of Kannur Dental College student Nithin Raj.
The hartal will be observed on Tuesday from 6 am to 6 pm.
As many as 52 Dalit organisations, including Justice for Nithin Raj Action Council, have announced the strike.
Organisations requesting cooperation for the strike said that no vehicles will be forcibly stopped and that all essential services are exempted.
Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
Police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student’s family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.
Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani (KPSM), one of the organisations supporting the hartal, alleged in a statement that police had shown apathy in the investigation and were attempting to protect the accused in the case.
KPSM state president K V Padmanabhan and general secretary S Anwar alleged that the probe into Raj’s death was being deliberately misdirected and delayed.
While the family has firmly alleged that caste discrimination and mental harassment by faculty members led to the student’s death, police were attempting to divert the investigation towards loan app borrowings, they claimed.
The organisation alleged that this was a planned move to shield the real accused.
KPSM further alleged that by deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused teachers, police enabled them to secure anticipatory bail.
They said there was no confidence in the present police investigation and demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest.
