IMPHAL: At least three persons, including a journalist, sustained serious injuries on Thursday when Manipur police fired tear gas to disperse a massive rally of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Imphal’s Singjamei area.
The mass rally was organized by the Committee on Protection of Meetei Victims (COPMeV) in Singjamei’s Akampat .
The IDPs marched through the streets of Akampat, demanding immediate resettlement and rehabilitation measures and an urgent need for government intervention.
The protest, which started from Akampat Relief Camp, quickly escalated as protesters were prevented from marching to the Chief Minister’s residence by the security forces.
The demonstrators planned to march approximately two kilometers to the chief minister’s secretariat to submit a memorandum demanding the right to return to their native places.
Police personnel stopped the protesters at the gate of Ideal Girl College, Akampat, and resorted to firing several rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The internally displaced people came out in large numbers from relief camps and participated in the rally. Besides, school students from the IDP camps also participated in the rally.
The journalist, a reporter from a local television channel, sustained serious injuries in the assault by the Manipur police while he was on his duty to cover the rally.
Meanwhile, the Manipur journalists’ fraternity has strongly condemned the alleged assault on its members.
The injured were immediately taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
