After minors’ deaths, 4 injured in Bishnupur firing; internet shut in 5 districts

Imphal/Bishnupur, Apr 7: At least four people were critically injured in police firing after a mob stormed a security forces camp in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Tuesday.

The incident occurred near Tronglaobi, where a large group of protesters allegedly entered a central forces camp located about 200 metres away and vandalised the premises. Several vehicles parked inside the camp were also set on fire, the police said.

The police confirmed that at least four persons sustained gunshot injuries. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals, though there are apprehensions that some may have succumbed to their injuries.

There was no official confirmation of fatalities at the time of filing this report.

The violence comes amid widespread unrest following the killing of two minors in a suspected mortar blast in the same district on the intervening night of Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED), suspected to have been planted by Kuki militants, was detected and defused by the state police’s Bomb Disposal Squad around 11.36 am, averting a potential tragedy.

Sources indicated that the device had been planted a day earlier.

Meanwhile, protests intensified across Bishnupur and other valley districts, with demonstrators taking to the streets, burning tyres and blocking key roads.

In Bishnupur, including Kha Potsangbam and along the Imphal–Moirang road, protesters, many of them women, blocked the movement of security forces.

Normal life was severely disrupted, with shops, markets and educational institutions remaining shut across the Imphal valley districts.

In Imphal East, protests were reported from Khurai, Wamgkhei and Yairipok, while in Imphal West, agitation was seen in Kwakeithel and Thangmeiband.

Amid fears of further escalation, authorities suspended mobile internet and data services for three days in five valley districts — Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur.

According to a Home Department order issued on April 7, the curbs were imposed to prevent the misuse of social media platforms for spreading inflammatory content and mobilising unrest.

Condemning the killing of the two children, Chief Minister Y. Khemchand Singh said those responsible would be identified and dealt with firmly under the law. “Let there be no doubt, those responsible will be hunted down,” he said.

Security has been tightened across the region, with additional forces deployed as authorities attempt to contain the volatile situation.