Amid Fresh Violence in Manipur, Govt Implements Last Month's Decision of Replacing 2 Assam Rifles Battalions With CRPF | EXCLUSIVE

Amid fresh wave of violence, the decision to send two battalions of Assam Rifles out of Manipur, which was made last month, has been initiated. The two battalions of Assam Rifles are set to move out of Manipur. An official communication regarding the movement was issued on Monday.

According to a top-level official, the Assam Rifles will be replaced by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a few districts of Manipur, and CRPF troops have begun their movement to reach the state. The decision to replace the Assam Rifles was made last month but was delayed. The state saw multiple protests by one community against the Ministry of Home Affairs’ decision, but these protests had no impact.

The Manipur police had earlier also registered a case against the Assam Rifles following an incident in which Kuki militants allegedly managed to flee.

Recently, a video of a senior Assam Rifles official went viral, showing the officer interacting with locals in a less-than-professional manner. Assam Rifles deployment in Manipur’s few districts has faced questions by one community in Manipur.

Around 2,000 CRPF troops will replace an almost equal number of Assam Rifles troops in Manipur. Interestingly, the battalions of Assam Rifles moving out of Manipur will be deployed to Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and further, two battalions eventually moving to Jammu and Kashmir. This will be the first time the Assam Rifles will be deployed in J&K.

According to official communication, CRPF troops will be arriving in Manipur from Jharkhand and Telangana.

The communication, accessed by News18, also mentions establishing DETT headquarters for various battalions from Tripura, Odisha, Jharkhand, and other sectors in Manipur. These companies have been deployed in Manipur, and senior officers will oversee them from these headquarters. “16 battalions have established their temporary DETT headquarters in Manipur to maintain operational compactness and ensure better command, control, and supervision over the deployed companies,” a senior CRPF official said, quoting the letter.

Sources also indicate that additional forces from the Border Security Force (BSF) are likely to be deployed to maintain the situation in the state with the latest weapons. Additional BSF troops will soon be deployed in Manipur as well.