Guwahati: A team of Assam Police led by IGP (Training) Akhilesh Singh is leaving for Manipur on Sunday to evacuate the students from Assam who have been stranded in different places of Manipur since the violence erupted in the state on May 4.
There are reports that more than 1,000 students from the state have been stranded in Manipur.
“We have no such record. But we are sending a team to Manipur tomorrow. The team will be led by IGP(Training) Akhilesh Singh,” IGP(Law and order) Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan told EastMojo here on Saturday evening.
“The team will try to contact all persons concerned and take measures to evacuate the people from Manipur,” Bhuyan also said.
The state government has entrusted home commissioner Neeraj Verma for the evacuation of all Assam people, who have been stranded in the neighbouring state, a senior government official here said.
Meanwhile, more than 1,600 refugees from Jiribam have sought shelter in Cachar district, prompting the district administration to open relief camps for the people.
Cachar deputy commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha said 1,100 people from Manipur have come to Cachar via waterway (Jiri river) and a few of them by road because of fear due to the ongoing violence in the state.
“Different schools in Lakhipur sub-division including Jorkha Hmar lower primary school, Mirpur lower primary school, Fulertal union high school, and public places in villages like Rangmaijan, K Bethel, Lalpani have been used to accommodate the people,” the DC said.
“Food materials for two days have been provided in the accommodation places as of now and more ration will be provided as. The situation along the border area is peaceful,” Jha said.
Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatto said security has been beefed up in neighbouring areas of Cachar-Manipur border and all measures have been taken to maintain the peace and tranquillity in that area.
Mahato said Lakhipur / Cachar is not affected in any way because of the violence in Manipur.
Cachar, which is one of the three districts in Barak Valley, shares borders with Manipur’s Jiribam district. The inter-district border (Jirighat-Jiribam point) is around 45km from Silchar town.
“Ongoing crisis in Manipur may lead to a new security dimension as Manipur Valley based insurgent groups staying in camps across Indo-Myanmar border may be detrimental to ongoing massive efforts to restore normalcy in the state,” Defence spokesperson Lt Col Mahender Rawat said.
“The issue is being addressed proactively by security forces who are leaving no stone unturned to thwart the nefarious designs, should it manifest. While on ground zero Assam Rifles is enhancing its deployment posture, round the clock vigil & border surveillance, their efforts are being given fresh impetus by allocating Unmanned Aerial Vehicle & Army helicopters for aerial surveillance in Manipur,” Rawat said.
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“Multiple rounds of aerial surveillance using Cheetah helicopters have already been conducted by Army since morning in Manipur. Army and Assam Rifles working in synergy through the above efforts hope to quell the present unrest in Manipur at the earliest,” Rawat added.
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