The Opposition Congress in Manipur has described as “unfortunate” and “condemnable” Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi’s categorical dismissal of the use of drone bombs in the ongoing conflict in the strife-hit state.

In a recent interview to a news website Firstpost on issues connected with the ongoing conflict in Manipur, the Army chief had said that Manipur has “become a battle of narratives” and the battle lines were “getting hardened” in the state which has been in turmoil since May 3, 2023, leaving at least 237 dead and over 60,000 displaced.

In the context of narrative-building, the Army general had referred to the issue of drone bombing that was reported on September 1 and 2 in Imphal West district and then debunked the “narrative of the bomb drones”.

However, Manipur PCC president K Meghachandra Singh, on Wednesday contested the Army chief statement on drone bombs, stating it was “very unfortunate and we condemn (his statement) from our side” because there was evidence of the “recent bombarding by using this drone and this airstrike by using this rocket launcher....”

The interview was uploaded on the Firstpost website on Tuesday.

He questioned the Army chief’s statement by citing the state government statements on the drone bombings.

“The concerned state home department has already given a statement saying that evidence were there of the use of hi-tech drones and bombarding and the use of the RPGs ... DGP has already announced. The official order has been made,” Meghchandra said in response to a query on the Army general dismissing the use of drone bombs.

He added, “How this Army general stated that there is no evidence of the use of hi-tech drones and RPGs. It is quite contradictory to the present prevailing situation in the state.... The state government is giving the evidence and the Army general is not serious on the Manipur issue....

“This is unfortunateand the statement is condemnable. We condemn it from our side.”

Manipur has a BJP-led coalition government headed by Biren Singh as chief minister since 2017.

The official order Meghachandra had referred to included the formation of a five-member committee by the state police chief Rajiv Singh a day after the first bombing on September 1 to “critically examine and study the drones deployed by these (alleged Kuki) militants, including the collection of relevant evidences, specifications of the drones used and how to effectively counter such drones....”

The committee, headed by Ashutosh Kumar Sinha, additional DGP (intelligence) also included members an officer each drafted from the Army, Assam Rifles, CRPF and BSF based in the state and were asked to submit the report by September 13.

Apart from the committee, the NIA was roped in to probe the drone bombings.

Moreover, Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh had said “dropping of bombs on civilian population and security forces by using drones is an act of terrorism....”

Army chief Dwivedi,however, dismissed the government position in theinterview.