The Manipur government and the Assam Rifles are at loggerheads over the guarding of check posts along highways following the alleged harassment of a woman police officer by an Assam Rifles jawan.
Assam Rifles operates under the command of the Indian Army.
A woman IPS officer was allegedly assaulted and molested by an Assam Rifles jawan at a check post near Moreh in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district along Indo-Myanmar border recently.
While the Assam Rifles has strongly refuted the allegations of the police officer, the Manipur government has sought removal of the paramilitary force from the check posts along the highways in the state following the incident.
Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force guarding the India-Myanmar border.
The Manipur government has reportedly approached the Union home ministry to deploy state forces in place of Assam Rifles troopers at all check-posts set up along the highways in the state.
“As the state government and the Assam Rifles are separately probing the allegations of the woman IPS officer, we would wait until the outcome of the inquiries,” a defence spokesman said.
Manipur education minister Th. Radheshyam said the state government has decided to hand over the security of all check posts along the highways in the state to the police as these are currently being manned by the Assam Rifles troopers.
The minister said that the state government after reviewing the situation has felt that the Central Reserve Police Force troopers can also be posted in the check posts if additional forces were required to man these check gates.