Police warn Manipuri refugees in Cachar not to take up arms

Silchar: Assam Police have cautioned people from Manipur, who have sought refuge in Cachar district, to not take up arms and engage in ethnic clashes.
Nearly 2,000 people, both belonging to Meitei and Kuki groups from neighbouring Manipur’s Jiribam district, have taken shelter in this part of Assam over the past weeks because of large-scale violence.“If miscreants from other parts of the interstate border mix up with the refugees and take up arms to create panic and fear, we will take strict action. If needed, we won’t hesitate to open fire,” said Assam IGP (Law & Order) Prashant Kumar Bhuyan.
Bhuyan on Monday evening visited the areas of Cachar’s Lakhipur sub-division where panic-stricken people from neighbouring Manipur took refuge. He visited three villages along with his patrolling party and spoke to people from different ethnic groups who fled Manipur.
“The most important thing for us is to keep the law and order situation normal in our (Assam’s Cachar district) area. We sympathize with those who have taken refuge but if anyone is involved in any kind of illegal activity, we are ready to take strict action against him. They should remember that this is Assam, not Manipur. Laws are different here and the police in this state are much stronger and stricter. We will not hesitate to use weapons against anyone who takes refuge and takes up arms,” said Bhuyan while talking to the media.
“Tension is still there but normalcy would return in Jiribam soon. We have last figured that around 1,700 people have taken shelter in Cachar and now a survey too has started, which is good for us to keep track,” he added.
In the meanwhile, a meeting was held at Jirighat in Cachar near the Manipur border between the officials of Assam and Manipur on Monday afternoon for confidence-building measures. While DC (Cachar) Rohan Kumar Jha and SP (Cachar) Numal Mahatta headed the Assam team, the Manipur side was led by ADC (Jiribam) Manoranjan Thokchom and additional SP (Jiribam)) Thomas Thokchom.
After the meeting, DC (Cachar) said, “As the situation is improving in Jiribam, those who have taken shelter in the Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar district can now go back and adequate security measures would be provided for their safe return.”
SP (Cachar) Mahatta said, “It’s peaceful on our side, and we are manning 132 km of the inter-state border. We have created new posts in various areas to strengthen vigil.”