Terming the ongoing violence in Manipur as “ethnic violence,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that a judicial probe would be conducted by setting up a commission to “investigate the violence, its causes, and fix responsibility” on the Centre’s behalf. It will be headed by a retired Chief Justice of a High Court.
Addressing a press conference in Imphal on the fourth day of his trip to Manipur, the Home Minister said that the Central Bureau of Investigation would also begin its own probe. Out of all the cases registered so far, the CBI will select five cases and register a general case of conspiracy. “The special CBI team will probe the cases without any bias,” Mr. Shah said. More than 2,000 FIRs have been registered since the violence broke out on May 3.
With many security agencies now at work in Manipur and to bring them to a common ground, an inter-agency unified command is being set up, Mr. Shah said. It will be headed by retired Central Police Reserve Force director Kuldiep Singh, who was appointed as security adviser by the Manipur government soon after the violence began.
