One Seiminlun Gangte militant was detained by the NIA in Manipur in connection with a transnational plot by terror group commanders located in Bangladesh and Myanmar to wage war against India by taking advantage of the ongoing ethnic conflict there. The case had been suo moto filed by the NIA in New Delhi on July 19, 2023.
Investigation of the case has shown that terrorist groups with bases in Myanmar and Bangladesh have "entered into a conspiracy" with some militant leaders in India to incite violence with the aim of dividing various ethnic groups and waging war against the Indian government.
For this purpose, the leadership has been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both, from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in the northeastern states, to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur, said NIA.
No end to protests, vandalism and arson
Meanwhile, violence in the state escalated further as large mobs defied curfew and attempted to storm the ancestral home of Manipur's chief minister, N Biren Singh, in Imphal East and the home of BJP lawmaker Kebi Devi, in Imphal West. This led to hour-long clashes between security personnel and demonstrators.
To halt the mobs’ progress in both locations, security forces resorted to tear-gas shelling. Manipur police said both houses were secure and adequately protected. Clashes were reported from multiple locations, leaving many people and more than a dozen police personnel wounded.
Manipur BJP writes to Nadda
In the first overt action, the BJP's Manipur branch accused the state's government of failing to stop ethnic violence, telling J P Nadda that "people's anger and protest is turning the tide" against the government. The concerns have been flagged in a signed letter that top eight office bearers of the party, led by state chief A Sarda Devi, sent to Nadda.