Two houses torched in Manipur, curfew relaxed by an hour

Two abandoned houses were set on fire by unidentified people in Manipur's Imphal West district in the early hours of Wednesday, an official said.

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot in the Langol area and the blaze was doused, he said, adding that no injuries were reported in the incident.

The incident took place during a time gap between the change of guards in the area, he said. Imphal West is a Meitei-majority district from where most tribal residents have left since ethnic rioting began in May.

The houses were being guarded by army personnel since those were abandoned by the residents and CRPF personnel were to take over the security of the houses, the official said.

The miscreants torched the houses as the army personnel were moving out and the CRPF personnel were moving in, he said.

A separate press release issued by the Manipur police control room stated that the "situation in the state was still volatile and tense but under control" and that "security forces conducted search operations in the vulnerable and fringe areas of the state".

Meanwhile, Kom Union Manipur president Serto Ahao Kom (45) was hospitalised after being physically assaulted by militants near Chingphei village in Churachandpur district late on Tuesday, officials said.

Serto, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Imphal, told reporters that militants accused him of having links with Meitei bodies such as Arambai Tengol, Meitei Leepun and COCOMI.

Meanwhile, the Manipur government has extended the curfew relaxation period by one hour in Imphal East and West districts in view of improvement in the law and order situation, an official statement said.

The curfew relaxation period in the twin Imphal districts was now from 5 am to 8 pm.

Separate orders issued by the office of the district magistrates of the two districts said that "there is a considerable improvement in law and order and there is a need to relax the restriction of movement to facilitate the general public to purchase essential items including medicines and food items".

The curfew relaxation period in other valley districts of Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur remained unchanged from 5 am to 5 pm.

More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'tribal solidarity march' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.