Guwahati: Thousands of people on Sunday (September 8, 2024) night took to the streets of Manipur’s state capital Imphal in protest against the recent drone attacks by suspected militants in Imphal West district.
Security forces resorted to firing tear gas shells in order to disperse the protesters as they marched towards Raj Bhavan and the chief minister’s residence.
The protestors marched more than three kilometres along the city’s Tiddim Road proceeding towards the high-security zone when the security forces stopped them.
The Manipur police and central security forces erected barricades on the way to prevent them from marching ahead. The security forces had to fire several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the protestors.
They reached close to the Raj Bhavan and the CM’s residence, a location in proximity to the police headquarters, the Manipur secretariat, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office.
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On being stopped by the security forces, the protesters sat on the road at Keishampat and shouted slogans condemning the gruesome attacks and failure of the authorities to nab the culprits involved in the attacks.
The protestors also raised slogans demanding removal of the state police chief over the top cop’s alleged failure to prevent the attacks.
On September 1, suspected militants launched drone bombings and firing in Imphal West district’s Koutruk village in which two persons were killed and nine others were left injured.
The following day, drone attacks were again launched at Senjam Chirang village around three kilometres from the previous day’s spot leaving three people injured.