Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh on Friday said there were no issue in the duty assignment to the state police and security forces deployed in Moreh, the border town of the state badly affected by the ongoing ethnic conflict.
Singh said there was no question of stripping powers or not assigning any duty to the state police and security personnel in Moreh, while responding to queries on the sideline of the oath taking ceremony of chief justice of High Court of Manipur at Raj Bhavan today.
‘None has the right to strip powers and to desist the police from discharging their duty whenever we are,’ Singh told reporters.
The queries from the reporters came in the backdrop of reports in some sections of the media that a team of personnel of a special commando unit of the state police sent to the border town were stranded at an Assam Rifles camp unable to reach their place of posting.
Recently, a group of 20 personnel of the special commando unit of the state police were airlifted by choppers to the camp of the Assam Rifles in the border town. Reports in some sections of the media in Imphal alleged that the personnel were stranded at the Assam Rifles camp after roads to their place of posting were blocked by womenfolk belonging to the Kuki community.
The chief minister, however, said that the personnel were asked to stay at the Assam Rifles camp in view of the prevailing situation in the area after armed miscreants laid an ambush on a team of Tengnoupal district police on NH-102 near the border town.
The arrangement was to avoid any untoward incident, Singh said. He said personnel were discharging their normal duties without any problem and engaged in maintenance of law and order under the supervision of SP of Tengnoupal district police.
Commandant of 5th IRB and SP of special commando unit were also camping in the town to supervise the personnel in maintaining law and order situation in the border town, the chief minister asserted.
The chief minister added that 100 personnel of the special commando unit of the state police, 90 personnel of the IRB and around 100 civil police were currently posted in the border town and actively maintaining of law and order.
No question of confinement of personnel in their posting places arose, he added. He claimed that it was the state police and security forces that effectively controlled a bid to occupy abandoned houses and structures of the displaced people in the border town.
The chief minister further urged the media to verify information before publishing their reports alleging that publishing unverified news may create tensions and panic among the public.
The government will not compromise with those who work against the state and nation. All will be faced under the provisions of the Constitution of the country, he added.