Hundreds of youths clashed with security forces in the Kuki-Zo-majority town of Churachandpur in Manipur on Sunday to demand the release of two men arrested for allegedly damaging barricades and decorations put up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day earlier.
The duo were picked up on Friday following the vandalism and confrontations with security forces on Thursday evening, prompting the administration to conduct flag marches to maintain order.
Modi’s visit to the state passed off more or less peacefully on Saturday, his first in nearly 28 months since the conflict between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos erupted.
However, tempers ran high in Churachandpur on Sunday afternoon when the agitators dismantled the entry gate to the police station, threw stones and jeered at the security personnel and sang the national anthem to demand the release of the arrested duo, sources said.
The security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob, but nobody was injured in the standoff, they added.
Sources said Churachandpur superintendent P. Pandey interacted with the protesters to end the standoff, which coincided with the hearing of the bail plea of the arrested duo in a local court.
A security officer said the court granted bail to the duo, charged with unlawful assembly, rioting, mischief, obstructing public servants from discharging their duty and damage to public property.
“The situation is normal, but forces are on alert,” the source said, adding the vandalism on Thursday was “not organic” and those behind it had been identified.
Besides Churachandpur, Modi had visited Meitei-majority Imphal but his speeches at both venues left the valley people disappointed as they “did not contain a concrete time-bound road map” to restore peace in the violence-riven state.
Normal life was affected in Imphal on Saturday because of a shutdown called by Corcom, an umbrella organisation of six valley-based rebel groups, in protest against Modi’s visit.
Modi had said in Imphal that his government was “consistently working to restore peace and stability in Manipur to protect the interests of people here and to bring the lives of those forced to live in relief camps back on track”.