Health centre set on fire in Manipur, two groups clash as state stays tense

A primary health centre was set ablaze in Manipur's Jiribam district by unidentified armed attackers and an exchange of fire took place between two groups of the armed cadre, police said on Thursday. A police official in Imphal said that on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, the primary health centre near the Borobekra police outpost in Jiribam near southern Assam, was set afire.

Since September 1, at least 12 people, including two women, elderly persons and a retired soldier have died and over 20 others injured. Of the 12, six people were killed in Jiribam, inhabited by people from different communities.

The official said following the students' protests on Monday and Tuesday in Imphal, 33 people have been arrested and seven juveniles apprehended from various places. Necessary legal proceedings are being taken against them, he said. The Manipur government has restored access to internet via broadband connections in the five valley districts, three days after it snapped access. The state government said access to internet via mobile data continues to remain blocked.


As on Thursday, Manipur's capital, its adjoining localities, and the three curfew-bound districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, and Thoubal, wore a deserted look. The security forces were on high alert to foil any attack or ethnic clashes in the state, the official said.

Mobile internet services were suspended in five districts -- Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching -- for five days (till September 15) and educational institutions closed in view of the students' protests.