Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh on May 28 said that about 40 extremists had been killed in encounters with security forces following attacks on unarmed civilians on the periphery of Imphal valley, the State’s power centre.
The encounters and attacks on villagers by armed groups coincided with Army chief General Manoj Pande’s two-day visit from May 27 to the violence-hit State. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Manipur on May 29.
Mr. Singh told journalists in the State’s capital Imphal that the spurt in violent attacks on civilian houses on the periphery of the valley in the past two days “seemed well-planned and simultaneous” as a show of strength.
