553 evacuated from Manipur under second phase of Operation Kohima Calling

A total of 553 civilians were successfully evacuated from violence-hit Manipur under the second phase of Operation Kohima Calling on Wednesday.

The Assam Rifles along with the Nagaland Government and the Nagaland Police and various stakeholders have been continuously initiating operations for the stranded civilians back in Nagaland.

Maj General Vekas Lakhera, Inspector General Assam Rifles North said that the first and second phase of Operation Kohima Calling was a success.

"553 civilians were evacuated on Wednesday, and out of that 50 were from other states," he said.

He also informed that 263 were from the Konyak tribe. "The operations Kohima Calling 2 is the effort of all the stakeholders, Assam Rifles, State Government, Nagaland Police, Nagaland State Transport and Civil Society Organisations," he said.

Further, he said that for those people who are still stuck in Manipur, efforts will be made to bring them back to Nagaland.

A short programme was held welcoming the returnees at Assam Rifles Headquarters North, Kohima on Wednesday.

A total of 1229 civilians of Nagaland and locals from Manipur were brought back home to the state capital between May 6 to 10. In the first phase, 676 individuals were evacuated and during the second phase, 553 individuals were evacuated.

The first phase of the operation was led by Brigadier Ved Beniwal, Deputy Inspector General of IGAR (North), whereas during the second phase Colonel Umesh Sati, Commandant, 1 Assam Rifles led the evacuation.

While many appreciated the joint initiative ensuring the safety of its people, the returnees also shared traumatic experiences they had when the Manipur state was hit by violence leading to the killing of more than sixty persons and injuring many.