Manipur continued to remain on the edge with incidents of arson, firing and intimidation being reported from three districts in the past 24 hours.
However, timely intervention by security personnel checked the situation from spiralling out of control.
Kuldip Singh, security adviser to the chief minister, told the media in Imphal on Monday that three armed persons were arrested from the New Checkon area of Imphal East for “intimidating” local shopkeepers to shut down their shops.
The shopkeepers had heated arguments with the trio but the intervention of the Imphal East police and Rapid Action Force stopped any untoward incident. The trio were arrested with two arms.
Although the affected area has been under surveillance, few people "managed" to sneak in and set fire to a half-burnt house. Since it was windy, four houses caught fire.
"We would hold raids on Monday night in the area and arrest maximum culprits," Singh said.
The fresh tension in the city saw the administration reduce curfew relaxation hours in the Imphal East district by three hours. Earlier, the curfew was relaxed from 5am to 4pm. On Monday, the curfew was relaxed from 5am to 1pm.
Chief minister N. Biren Singh, in a separate media briefing, while appealing for peace, said one of the three persons picked up in the intimidation case was a former MLA but did not reveal his name. “It is very unfortunate that a former MLA is involved…,” he said.
Sources said he was a former MLA from the BJP but had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly election on a Shiv Sena ticket. They said the MLA and four other tribal persons had refused to leave the area despite the unrest to “safeguard” their houses. They wanted the shopkeepers to close down the shops to check miscreants from exploiting the situation.
The chief minister also said the BJP-led state government has decided to seek 20 more companies of security personnel from the Centre while appealing to the people of the state to “have faith in the government” and sought the “cooperation of all” in bringing normality.
