7 Manipur Police trainees injured in scuffle over dinner

Around seven Manipur Police trainees, who were undergoing training at Lachit Borphukan Police Academy in Golaghat district of Assam, were injured when a clash broke out between the cadets of two groups, apparently over distribution of dinner.

Assam Director General of Police GP Singh posted on X on Saturday, "Today evening, there was a scuffle between the trainees from Manipur at Lachit Barphukan Police Academy over distribution of dinner. The matter is now resolved. The Range IGP and DIG Training are with the boys." An officer who does not want to be named told ET: "Seven trainees from Manipur were injured as a result of the scuffle."

"A senior officer from Manipur police, M Pradip Singh, IPS is being deputed on Monday to Dergaon to take stock of the situation. The matter is being monitored by Manipur Police on a real-time basis and the situation is under control," Manipur Police posted on X late Saturday night.


Last month, Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh had met Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati. Sarma had then said: "As there is no provision for training of police battalions in Manipur, a battalion of Manipur will be trained in Dergaon. The chief minister of Manipur has requested me for the training of the battalion. It was purely an official discussion, not political."

There are four training institutions in Assam, all located at Dergaon. These are the Police Training College, Armed Police Training Centre, Battalion Training Centre and Recruit Training School. These training institutions impart basic and in-service training to the police personnel of various ranks belonging to different branches of the Assam Police. Each of these four institutions is headed by an officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police who is assisted by a set of experienced instructors.

A senior officer in Manipur who did not want to be named, told ET, "Manipur was not able to provide training following the ethnic strife which broke out in the state on May 3. There was new recruitment in state. However, they were not given training facilities as the state was battling ethnic strife."

Over 185 people have been killed, over 1,500 injured and more than 70,000 displaced in Manipur's ethnic violence.