Ten persons from Myanmar, who were admitted at a hospital in Churachandpur district of Manipur with bullet injuries, were intercepted by the Assam Rifles at the border and allowed to enter the State as it was a case of a medical emergency, according to multiple government officials.
An official said due to the ongoing crisis in neighbouring Myanmar, several people are allowed by the government to avail treatment in Manipur in case of a “medical emergency”.
“The purpose of the visit seems to be a medical emergency. Government can permit medical emergency cases on humanitarian grounds due to the crisis in Myanmar,” said the official.
There are over 40,000 refugees from Myanmar who have taken shelter in Mizoram and Manipur following a military coup in the country in February 2021.
India and Myanmar share a free movement regime (FMR) within 16 km on both sides of the border. The Manipur government had temporarily suspended the FMR but people are allowed in specific cases.
A June 28 report prepared by Churachandpur Superintendent of Police Karthik Malladi said as many as 10 people from Myanmar were being treated for injuries caused by explosives and bullets at the district hospital in Churachandpur in the hills.
The report, published by The Hindu, said that at least three persons were admitted since April 20, before the ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, and five others with bullet injuries were admitted to the government hospital between June 15 and 17.
The report said all the injured belonged to Tamu in Myanmar.
Of the ten injured persons, seven were intercepted between June 17 and 21 by the Assam Rifles at Joupi in Chandel district.
“In accordance with existing standard operating procedures, the case was transferred to Superintendent of Police, Chandel for further follow up,” another source said.
It was in response to a June 22 follow-up request by the Assam Rifles regarding the whereabouts of the injured persons who came from Myanmar that the SP, Churachandpur prepared a factual report, the source said.
He added that the 10 injured persons are not involved in the ongoing Manipur violence. “The confidential report was simultaneously published by many social media handles on Monday evening to set a narrative with vested interests,” the source added.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, in a television interview on June 30, had blamed illegal migrants from Myanmar for the ongoing violence.
