Imphal: A parked car and a waiting shed were set on fire, while an Assam Rifles vehicle was overturned during a protest in Manipur’s Senapati district on Tuesday night.
Tension flared after messages circulated on social media claiming that a confrontation had developed between the Assam Rifles and the Huthrong Brigade Headquarters of the Naga Army at Oklong village in the Mao-Maram subdivision.
The messages called on people to gather at Senapati town’s traffic point, following which a large crowd assembled and marched towards the Assam Rifles Company Operating Base (COB), demanding that the force withdraw from the Oklong area.
During the protest, a parked Alto car outside the COB gate was set ablaze and a nearby waiting shed was also torched.
According to sources, the situation began to ease after information emerged that the Assam Rifles had withdrawn from Oklong. However, while security personnel were returning, some protesters allegedly overturned an Assam Rifles truck and set two Assam Rifles Gypsy vehicles on fire.
Security forces reportedly fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd as the situation escalated.
The sequence of events, the extent of the damage, and whether there were any injuries could not be independently verified at the time of filing this report.