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Manipur: Internet Suspended After Violent Protests Against Meitei Leader's Arrest

Manipur: Internet Suspended After Violent Protests Against Meitei Leader's Arrest

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Violent protests erupted in parts of Manipur after a Meitei leader was arrested by security forces on Saturday.
Violent protests erupted in Kwakeithel, Imphal West, in Manipur on Saturday night after a leader of the Meitei outfit, Arambai Tenggol, was arrested by security forces, officials said. The authorities have suspended the internet and mobile data services in five valley districts for five days.
A curfew has also been imposed in the Bishnupur district. The administration has issued prohibitory orders in other districts such as Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, and Kakching.
'In view of the prevailing law and order situation, internet and mobile data services, including VSAT and VPN, have been suspended in Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching, and Bishnupur districts of Manipur for 5 days with effect from 11.45 PM, June 7," officials said.
The protesters, who belonged to the Meitei volunteer group Arambai Tenggol, which is accused of attacking Kuki villages during the ethnic violence earlier, shouted slogans demanding the release of their leader and burnt tyres on the roads.
Soon after the arrest, large crowds gathered on the streets and set the roads on fire. Around 50 rounds of gunfire were heard in the area as tension continued to rise. Security forces were deployed to manage the situation.
Firing and protests went on till early this morning.
Arambai Tenggol has called for a 10-day complete shutdown.
First Published:
June 08, 2025, 06:48 IST

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Internet snapped in 5 districts, curfew in Bishnupur amid protests over Meitei leader's ‘detention'
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Internet services were suspended across all districts in Manipur's central valley following protests in capital Imphal Saturday night following reports of a Meitei outfit leader being apprehended by security forces. After an Arambai Tenggol leader was reportedly detained from Kwakeithel area in Imphal on Saturday evening, protesters torched tyres and blocked roads in different parts of Imphal city including the Tiddim road, Uripok in Imphal West district, demanding his immediate release. Confrontations between security forces and protesters were also reported at the Kwakeithel area, leaving multiple injured. In the early hours of Sunday, internet and mobile data services, including VSAT and VPN services, were suspended in the districts of Imphal East and West, Kakching, Thoubal and Bishnupur for a period of five days through an order issued by Manipur Home Commissioner N. Ashok Kumar. The order cites an apprehension that 'some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages inciting the passions of the public which might have serious repercussions for the law and order situation in the state of Manipur'. Internet services were last snapped in these districts in Manipur in September last year after protests over a renewed escalation of violence in the state. Prohibitory orders under section 163 of the BNS were also imposed across the valley districts citing 'apprehension of serious breach of peace, disturbance to public tranquility, riot or affray in the area, and grave danger to human lives and properties due to unlawful activities of anti-social elements'. Total curfew was imposed in Bishnupur district, with effect from 11 pm of June 7.

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An indefinite curfew was imposed on Saturday night in Manipur's Bishnupur district, and orders prohibiting five or more persons from gathering were implemented in Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal East and Imphal West, after a member of armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol was arrested in Imphal West. Internet services were also suspended in the five districts – all of them located in the state's Meitei-dominated valley region – following the development. — Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 7, 2025 A joint team of the National Investigation Agency and the Manipur Police on Saturday evening arrested Kanan Meitei, said to be the 'army chief' of the Arambai Tenggol, in Imphal West, The Hindu reported. Hundreds of residents took to the streets in Imphal West's Kwakithel area to try to stop the police convoy and snatch him from custody. The police opened fire to force the mob to disperse. Protestors also burned tyres and blocked roads in parts of the state capital, including the Tiddim road and Uripok areas in Imphal West district, demanding that Kanan Meitei be immediately released, The Indian Express reported. The Arambai Tenggol is alleged to have orchestrated violence against the tribal Kuki-Zo community since the beginning of the ethnic violence in Manipur in May 2023. The conflict has left at least 260 dead and displaced more than 59,000. The National Investigation Agency is looking into the alleged role of the Arambai Tenggol's chief Korounganba Khuman in two cases about an attack on security personnel on November 1, 2023 and arms being looted from a Manipur Rifles battalion on the same day. On February 27, the Arambai Tenggol surrendered 246 weapons before security forces, as part of what was said to be the largest set of illegally-held weapons surrendered in Manipur since the conflict began. However, two Kuki-Zomi groups – the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum and the Committee on Tribal Unity – dismissed the surrender of weapons, calling it a move to 'garner sympathy and legitimacy'.

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