Manipur Violence: Moreh Police Officer Killed By Suspected Militants

Tuesday saw the shooting death of a police officer in Moreh, Manipur, by individuals believed to be terrorists.

According to HT, the incident happened as Moreh Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Chingtham Anand was examining a recently built helipad at the border town’s Eastern field.

“After being brought to a local health center in Moreh, the SDPO passed away from his wounds. According to the report, the police have started an operation to capture the insurgents.

It said that Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh expressed his sadness over the “cold-blooded killing” of Anand.

Singh posted on X, the previous Twitter platform, saying, “Deeply saddened by the cold-blooded killing of SDPO Chingtham Anand, OC Moreh Police this morning.”

“His commitment to protecting and serving the populace will never be forgotten. The offenders will face consequences.

The incident, according to PTI, occurred a few days after activists from a number of civil society organizations—especially those with Moreh as their base—demanded that the government withdraw its troops from the border town.

Large-scale violence has occurred in Manipur after the first confrontations in Churachandpur town on May 3. The conflicts arose from calls by tribal organizations for demonstrations against a planned modification to the state’s reservation system that would have given the Meitei community scheduled tribe (ST) status.

Given the deep-rooted ethnic fault lines in the state, the violence swiftly swept across it. Since then, the state has seen over 50,000 displaced persons and at least 175 fatalities. Places of worship have burned to the ground, companies have closed, hundreds of houses have burned, and the state has gone months without internet service.

Authorities said that gangs stole almost 500,000 rounds of ammunition and 5669 different kinds of weapons from armories and police stations. Up until the first week of October, just around 1300 of them were found.