Additional central forces deployed in Manipur's violence-hit Jiribam district, relief material distributed

Imphal, June 16 (IANS) As tension still prevails in Manipur's mixed-population Jiribam district, additional CRPF troopers have been deployed in the interior areas of its Borobekra subdivision to maintain peace and tranquillity, officials said on Sunday.

The Borobekra subdivision of Jiribam, adjoining southern Assam, had been badly affected after the killing of 59-year-old farmer Soibam Saratkumar Singh on June 6.

Around 900 tribals belonging to the Kuki and Hmar communities took shelter at the homes of relatives and friends in two villages – Haokippunji and Hmarkhawlienin - in the Cachar district of southern Assam, after violence broke out.

The Jiribam district administration on Sunday distributed cooking gas cylinders and other necessary items in the seven relief camps, where around 1,000 people, mostly belonging to the Meitei community, have taken shelter after the violence.

Officials in Imphal said that the district health officials have been providing healthcare services round the clock to the villagers.

The Education Department has also started lessons from Classes one to eight for around 100 children taking shelter in the camps at the Bidyanagar Multipurpose Sports Complex in the district headquarters. A headmaster and 23 teachers were posted in the temporary school. Textbooks and notebooks have already been provided to the students.

Similar temporary schools will also be set up in nearby relief camps as and when necessary.

Movement of goods trucks and LPG-carrying vehicles has commenced along the Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH-37) from Saturday under the protection of a CRPF convoy.

Tension still prevails in Jiribam, inhabited by Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, Muslims and non-Manipuris, where a wave of violence broke out after the killing of Saratkumar Singh, who belonged to the Meitei community. A senior police official said that two police checkposts, a forest beat office, and at least 100 houses were set afire in Jiribam by attackers on June 7 and 8.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has demanded an immediate end to the ethnic crisis in Jiribam, which has led to the displacement of about 1,600 people. A meeting of the state unit's Political Affairs Committee, chaired by state chief K. Meghachandra Singh, was held at Congress Bhawan on Saturday and resolved to appeal to the Central and state governments to control the situation in Jiribam district immediately, a Congress leader said on Sunday.

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