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Manipur MLAs, MPs asked to resign

Five social organisations, including the All Manipur Students Union (AMSU), in a joint statement on Tuesday evening asked the MLAs and MPs in the state to resign within 24 hours.

They said the extension of ceasefire between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) to Manipur had deeply hurt the feelings and sentiments of the people.

Earlier, fresh violent protests rocked interior areas of the Manipur valley as army and paramilitary personnel staged flag marches in Imphal, the state capital, and its outskirts.

Angry demonstrators burnt effigies of central and Naga militant leaders at Moirang in interior Bishenpur district where a curfew had not been imposed, official sources said.

Police and security forces dispersed the crowd. No casualty was reported.

There were reports of effigies being burnt in Thoubal district also, where the indefinite curfew was relaxed for two hours from 1500 IST.

Army and paramilitary force personnel staged flag marches throughout Imphal and Greater Imphal as tensions ran high following refusal of the relatives of those killed in police firing on Monday to take possession of the bodies.

The sources said autopsies could not be conducted on the bodies because of the refusal of relatives to identify them.

Representatives of the AMSU and All-Manipur United Clubs Organisation said they were trying to contact the authorities to seek permission for mass cremation of the bodies.

They said family and relatives would not take possession of the bodies till the authorities gave confirmation of this.

The AMSU and AMUCO warned of more agitation unless the ceasefire was withdrawn from Naga-dominated areas of Manipur.

Meanwhile, airlifting of the army and paramilitary forces to Manipur continued throughout the day.

The sources said reinforcements were being sent to several places in the Manipur valley, particularly in Imphal East and Imphal West districts.

Central observers arrived in the state to study the situation.

The government has advised people to report cases of missing persons to the missing persons cell at the criminal investigation department of the state police.

Director General of Police A A Siddiqui said a magisterial inquiry would be ordered into the death of 13 persons in Monday's police firing. The deputy commissioner of Imphal West will head the inquiry.

PTI

EARLIER REPORT:
No fresh violence in Manipur, curfew continues

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