After rights panel’s prompt, Manipur govt asks police chief to recover looted arms

Imphal: Accepting the recommendations of the Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC), the state government has directed the Director General of Police to recover the arms and ammunition, looted during the ethnic riot from the armouries of security forces and the Churachandpur gun shop.

According to various reports, during the ethnic riots, which broke out on May 3, over 4,000 different types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of different kinds of ammunition were looted from the police stations and police outposts by the mobs, attackers and militants.

Inspector General of Police, Operations, I.K. Muivah last week said that of the weapons that had been "lost", 1,359 firearms and 15,050 various types of ammunition were recovered.

Commissioner, Home, T. Ranjit Singh in a "most urgent" letter to the DGP, Deputy Commissioners of all 16 districts, Secretaries of Rural Development, Education and Health Departments directed to take immediate necessary actions on the recommendations of the rights panel.

After visiting various districts and relief camps including worst violence hit district Churachandpur, the MHRC headed by its Chairperson Justice Utpalendu Bikas Saha (retired) earlier this month in a letter to Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi made six point recommendations.

It recommended measures to protect the land and residences in the villages and colonies where the displaced persons from both communities used to reside so that the land owners may re-settle again when they return, or when the government makes arrangements for their resettlement.

The commission’s other recommendations include, providing training and facilities to the internally displaced persons who are staying at various relief camps for self-employment and they may also be engaged in the MGNREGA scheme, providing essential commodities for their basic needs, including study materials to the displaced children and students (as already directed by the Supreme Court).

The rights panel asked the government to ensure doctors’ visit the relief camps at least once a week.

Besides the indigenous people of Manipur, the MHRC is also looking after the human rights of Myanmarese, lodged in the detention centre in the northeastern state, which shares around 400 km of unfenced border with Myanmar.

On the intervention of the MHRC, the state government recently deputed additional doctors in the foreigners’ detention centre in Imphal.