The authorities in Imphal East and Imphal West districts in Manipur on Wednesday evening withdrew the curfew relaxations with immediate effect “due to the developing of law and order situation”. Heavy firing was reported in Imphal for several hours on Wednesday.

Hindustan Times stated in its report that security personnel fired several rounds in the air to disperse a mob that had surrounded the 1st battalion complex of Manipur Rifles located in Imphal West demanding arms.

“People familiar with the matter said no one was hurt in the attempt but gunshots were heard in Imphal several hours later. There was no official statement on the incident,” HT stated.

The Wire, in its report, said that the firing had taken place between “an armed Meitei mob numbering over 3,000 and the Manipur Rifles”. It added that the armed mob consists of members of the Meitei right-wing group Arambai Tenggol in its unconfirmed report.

The disruption in law and order situation in Manipur comes a day after Chingtham Anand Kumar, MPS, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) in Moreh was killed while on duty overseeing the cleaning of the grounds of Eastern Shine School, Moreh for construction of helipad, jointly by State force and BSF.

A PTI report stated that in an address at an election rally in Mizoram, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday made a fervent appeal to the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur to sit together and hold a “heart-to-heart” conversation to end their “trust deficit”, in what is seen as a fresh attempt by the Centre to bring peace to the troubled state. It reported Singh saying that violence is no solution to any problem and the two communities in Manipur must talk to each other to improve the situation in the state.