The Union government is considering a phased withdrawal of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised anti-riot Central police force, from violence-hit Manipur. A senior government official told The Hindu that the continuous exposure of the RAF to the anti-insurgency theatre may be not suitable for a force trained in crowd control and law and order duties, including agitation and communal incidents.
Presently, 10 companies of the RAF are deployed in Manipur — eight in the valley districts, and two in the hills.
Other than the police, around 36,000 paramilitary forces or the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), including Indian Army personnel, are deployed in the State. The ethnic violence between the Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo people that erupted in the State on May 3 has claimed at least 175 lives so far.
