IMPHAL (PTI): An Army crackdown has begun in areas of Manipur to flush out insurgents operating in the region, according to official sources,

The army’s action against the guerrillas followed the Central Government’s orders for liquidation of the insurgents.

Although the state government said the situation in Manipur was normal, the Center was not happy over the recent series of incidents and had sent the union cabinet secretary, S.Rajgopal, defense secretary, Sundaram and the home secretary, N.N.Vohira to make an on the spot study of the situation in the state,

Rajgopal, Sundaram and Vohra, who arrived here last week had a detailed discussion on the Manipur Situation with the state chief secretary, H.V,Goswami and the director general of police, M.D.Sharma, the sources said, Unlike in the past, all para military forces including the Assam rifles, Central Reserve Police force and border security forces have been placed at the command of the army, the sources said. The security forces have intensified patrolling in different places in Manipur and were deployed heavily in and around Imphal city, the sources said, the state had been placed under the armed forces (Assam and Manipur) special powers act, 1958 and declared as disturbed area to enable the security forces to operate in an effective manner, the sources said.

Article extracted from this publication >>  June 4, 1993