Manipur deploys forces to prevent Muivah's entry

The Manipur government has deployed state forces at Liyai Khunou and Jessami near the Nagaland border in Ukhrul district to prevent the entry of NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.

Official sources said on Saturday that nearly 200 police personnel and border security forces have been deployed at both the villages.

Muivah, who attempted to enter Manipur along the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway 39 in May by camping at Viswema in Nagaland, had moved to Pfutsero in that state in an attempt to cross into Ukhrul district via Jessami and Liyai Khunou.

The senior Naga rebel leader, who hails from Somdal in Manipur's Ukhrul district, left his village about 40 years ago to wage an armed struggle.

The state government and many civil organisations were of the view that Muivah's attempt to enter Manipur would create communal disharmony as the main demand of the NSCN-IM was to form a greater Nagaland by merging Naga-settled areas of Manipur with the present Nagaland state, official sources said.

Muivah on Friday wound up his camp at Visema village on the Nagaland-Manipur border where he had been camping since May 5 and went to Pfutsero, 70 km away by road, on a 'peace mission'.