Situation in strife-torn Manipur improving, curfew relaxed in 11 districts

Imphal, May 10: The situation in Manipur, where ethnic violence has claimed at least 60 lives and rendered thousands homeless, is gradually improving with no fresh incident of violence reported in the last two days, officials said on Wednesday.

Curfew was relaxed in 11 affected districts including Imphal West, Bishnupur, Churachandpur and Jiribam for six hours from 5 am.

The curfew relaxation was for four hours in these affected districts on Tuesday.

A total of 2,500 more affected people from Churachandpur and 500 people stranded in the border town of Moreh were brought to Imphal on Tuesday, they said.

Information and Public Relations Minister Sapam Ranjan Singh, in a press conference on Tuesday night, said 4,000 affected people are currently taking shelter in relief camps, where they are being provided with regular health check-up and psychological counseling, while 26,000 others have been moved to other safer places and many of them have taken shelter at relatives' houses.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh had on Monday said that 60 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses including religious places burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the northeastern state for the past few days.

Violent clashes broke out in the northeastern state after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the 10 hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

The clashes were preceded by tension over 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.