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New Delhi Security forces said on Saturday that they were forced to let go of the 12 Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) militants they apprehended after a “women-led” mob of around 1,500 surrounded them and thwarted the combing operation in ethnic violence-hit Manipur, officials aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Confirming the incident, an Army spokesperson said that the 12 KYKL members they apprehended earlier in the day included Moirangthem Tamba, alias Uttam, a mastermind of the 2015 ambush that killed 18 army personnel.
“At around 2.30pm, acting on specific intelligence inputs, an operation was launched by security forces in Itham village in Imphal East after which a cordon was laid… In the ensuing operation, 12 KYKL cadres were apprehended along with arms, ammunition and war like stores. Positive identification of self styled Lt Colonel Moirangthem Tamba alias Uttam, mastermind of the Dogra ambush case of 2015 among the 12 apprehended was done,” the spokesperson said.
Soon after, an official quoted above said, “a mob of 1,200-1,500 led by women and local leader immediately surrounded the target area and prevented the security forces from going ahead with the operation. Repeated appeals to the aggressive mob to let security forces carry on with the operation as per the law did not yield any result”.
The 12 cadres were then handed back to the local leader in “ view of the sensitivity of use of kinetic force”, the official added.
The security forces, however, seized the “war-like stores recovered from insurgents”, he said.
The Issue of women-led mobs thwarting security forces from conducting combing operations has been happening across Manipur, where ethnic violence between the Meities and the Kukis has claimed 115 lives since May 3.
On June 22 , a mob led by women protesters blocked a CBI team, which was entering the Manipur police training college to investigate looting of arms. On June 23, too, the army tweeted that mobs led by women stopped security personnel from reaching an area where armed miscreants were firing using automatic guns.
Clashes between the Kukis and Meiteis first erupted on May 3 during a protest against a court-ordered tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the latter. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders.
The authorities quickly clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes. Internet is still not back in the state. But tensions were simmering for much longer, owing to the state government’s decision to exit the tripartite accord and move against some forest dwelling groups it termed as encroachers.
On June 4, the Union government formed a three-member judicial inquiry panel to probe the ethnic violence in Manipur on the recommendation of the state government.
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