Manipur pre-poll violence: Curfew clamped at Heirok village

Imphal: In view of the recent Heirok incident which killed a 21-year-old man and injured several others in Manipur’s Thoubal district, the district magistrate has imposed a curfew in the whole area of Heirok village with effect from 5 pm from Thursday until further notice.

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An order issued by district magistrate A Subhash Singh said that in view of the volatile situation in Heirok village areas, there is every likelihood of breach of peace and disturbance of public tranquility at Heirok village areas. The situation is likely to endanger human lives and property in Heirok village areas in Thoubal district, he added.

It has become expedient to issue prohibitory orders for prevention of breach of peace, disturbance to public tranquility and danger to human lives and properties and to prevent riot, mentioned the district magistrate.

In a ghastly incident of pre-poll violence in Manipur on Tuesday, 53-year-old Ningthoujam Premchandra, a father of three sons, was seriously injured while one of his sons killed.

The family had retired for the night after having dinner at Heirok part-2, Mayai leikai on Tuesday. Around midnight, the locality was rudely awoken to the sound of gunshots being fired indiscriminately. Nigthoujam Rohit, son of Premchandra and a 3rd-semester student of Thoubal college heard noises at the back of the house and opened the door to investigate. The masked men at the back, wielding weapons, shot him at point-blank range with a shotgun. Premchandra also ran to his son’s side, and he too was shot by the masked assailants. 

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The order further stated: “There is an emergency and circumstances which do not permit the serving of notice upon the public in due time, and hence, this order is passed ex-parts under Section 144 CrPC of 1973 and is directed to the public in general.”

As per the order, those persons who want to take out procession for marriage, funeral and religious purposes within the scheduled area were asked to take prior permission from the district superintendent of police.

They will not take out any procession until permission is obtained, it said.

However, government officials involved in the enforcement of law and order, military, paramilitary, police forces and other genuine urgent related to medical and essential services are exempted from curfew.

In the last few months, the poll violence at the Heirok assembly constituency has risen as masked men continue to terrorise families and election campaigners. Many individuals houses have been ransacked, women have been assaulted, a journalist had been beaten up and the situation continued to rise. However, Ningthoujam Rohit is the first person to be killed concerning the upcoming 12 Manipur state assembly elections.

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