Manipur violence news: 140 weapons surrendered hours after Amit Shah’s appeal

Less than a day after Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Manipur, officials said that 140 weapons had been surrendered from different places in the state. The senior politician had visited the northeastern state to take stock of the situation in the wake of ethnic violence. During Shah's four day visit he also also met a cross section of people in region.

Shah had announced plans for the formation of a judicial probe headed by a retired high court chief justice to inquire into the recent clashes. He also announced that a peace committee will be set up under the Governor of Manipur Anusuiya Uikey. It is set to have representatives of all political parties, besides representatives from both Kuki and Meitei communities and social organisations.

Meanwhile Opposition leaders have termed the situation in violence-hit Manipur "explosive" and held the BJP-led state government and the Shah-led central Home Ministry responsible for the “mayhem”. Earlier on Thursday, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily asserted that the home minister's visit to Imphal “has totally failed to understand the ground realities ”.

Ethnic clashes had broken out in Manipur last month after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations. The clashes have so far claimed over 75 lives.

Around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state.

(With inputs from agencies)