Govt sends 2,000 more CRPF personnel to Manipur for security duties

The Centre has directed deployment of two fresh CRPF battalions comprising about 2,000 personnel for security duties in ethnic strife-torn Manipur, official sources said Tuesday.

The battalion number 58 is being moved from Warangal in Telangana while the one numbered 112 is being sent from Latehar in Jharkhand. The first unit will have its headquarter in Kangvai (Churachandpur) in Manipur while the second will be stationed around Imphal, the sources told PTI.

They said the move has been ordered following the withdrawal of two Assam Rifles battalions from Manipur for operational duties in Jammu and Kashmir and some other parts of the Northeast.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed that all the companies (about 6 each) of these new two units to be based in various parts of the strife-torn state that has been witnessing ethnic conflict since May last year claiming more than 200 lives.

A CRPF battalion has an operational strength of about 1,000 personnel. The force has three main theatres of combat including combating insurgency in the Northeast apart from anti-Naxal operations and counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Additionally, 16 battalions of the force already present in the state following the violence last year, completed the establishment of their operational bases in Imphal West, Imphal East, Churachandpur, Noney, Jiribam, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur last week, the sources said.

There were about 10-11 battalions of the force in Manipur before the violence broke out.

"The CRPF will have a lead role in Manipur. Fresh units of the force were rushed to the state since the violence broke out between Meitei and Kuki people last year in May and the force is now being strengthened so that decision-making is better," a top security officer told PTI.

The two units that are moving in have personnel who have undergone training in various internal security duties. They will require some logistical, housing, equipment and anti-drone technology and that is being planned, the officer said.

Meanwhile, a joint team of officers drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF) and some independent technical experts will be reaching Manipur later this week to undertake an "analytical study" of the drones and improvised rockets that have been used to launch attacks in some regions of the state over the last few days.

The CRPF has been dealing with improvised Maoist-fired rockets called barrel grenade launchers (BGL) in the Left-wing extremism affected areas and hence they will study the rockets that are being used in Manipur off late. The BSF has a forensic lab to analyse drones coming in from the Pakistan border to states like Punjab and Rajasthan and these officials will study them along with independent technical experts, the sources said.

Two drone guns, that jam a drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) leading to its crash or retreat, have been provided to CRPF personnel in Manipur, as per the sources.

Some more of these technical gadgets will be sent to Manipur soon, they said.

More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic strife between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis since May last year. At least eight persons have died and over 12 injured in a fresh wave of violence, which included drone and missile attacks.