Manipur News

IMPHAL, October 19: The Manipur People`™s Party observed during the Hiyanglam by-poll that there is a direct correlation between the amount of money spent by a party and its chances of winning the by-poll, party president Nongmeikapam Sovakiran told media persons.

Speaking in a press meet at the party`™s office today, he said it was of the firm belief of the party that the people of Hiyanglam constituency have faith in regionalism.

However, money power and muscle power managed to influence the people of the constituency during the recent by-poll, he lamented.

He said it is sad that a person stealing a small item is perceived a thief and a criminal, while those who loot the State exchequer in terms of millions are considered leaders.

Alleging the Congress of distributing money to Hiyanglam voters, Sovakiran alleged that the loots from the State exchequer were used by the Congress MLAs and ministers to lure the voters of Hiyanglam.

At the same time, national projects and other important schemes undertaken in the State remained incomplete and neglected for long periods due to lack of fund which have been already siphoned off, he berated.

In such a situation, the future of the State is dim, he expressed concern.

Coming back to the Hiyanglam by-poll, he said the Congress split up the 34 polling stations in the constituency among its 47 MLAs.

There were also stations which were under the watch of two MLAs during the entire by-poll process, he claimed.

If the government was foresighted and considerate enough to divide the entire length of the National Highway 37 for repairing among the 47 MLAs the way it did the Hiyanglam polling stations, the condition of the highway would have been much better, he said.

The entire length of the highway is just about 225 km and if it is divided among the 47 MLAs, each will get only about 4-5 km highway stretch for maintenance, he said.

But unfortunately, the government is not that farsighted, he claimed before adding that it was more interested in the Hiyanglam by-poll rather than get involved with such projects.

Sovakiran also observed that his party had some weaknesses going into the Hiyanglam by-poll.

He regretted his inability to bring the senior leaders of the party to campaign for the by-poll.

Now, that the weaknesses of the party have been ascertained, MPP is hoping to look ahead and bounce back strongly with a vision for the 2017 general election, he said.

Party vice president Ojit said it is unfortunate that the culture of corruption and buying votes during elections is still prevalent, despite of the ECI`™s efforts and strong guidelines for the conduct of a free and fair election.

He further condemned the reported racial attacks on people of the region in other States of the country and urged the Chief Ministers of the region to pressure the Centre to intervene.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/money-power-directly-correlated-to-winning-hiyanglam-bypoll-mpp/

IMPHAL, Oct 19: `In order to prevent violent crimes in Imphal Municipal area committed by insurgents who are frequently indulging in extortions, kidnappings and bomb blasts, the Police department has put in place an elaborate Action Plan covering the seven Assembly segments under Imphal East and Imphal West districts,` said State DGP Shahid Ahmad during the 123rd Manipur Police Raising Day Parade ceremony today.

The areas under the Action Plan have been divided into zones and sectors and altogether as many as 105 duty points are being manned round the clock, he said.

About 2500 police personnel have been deployed for effective implementation of the Action Plan, he said before continuing that the plan, which has been in effect for the last few months, has greatly helped in checking the movement and subversive activities of the insurgents and has been successful in instilling a sense of security in the public.

Counter-insurgency operations alone cannot permanently solve the problem of insurgency and militancy in the State, he said before thanking the government for initiating the policy of inviting various UG groups to either surrender or enter into Suspension of Operations agreements as a prelude to negotiations and rehabilitation.

The State DGP also said that the number of UG groups who have come forward to rejoin the mainstream during the last few years is encouraging and about 3000 cadres already joining the mainstream.

He also recounted a brief history of the State police and said on October 19, 1892, Manipur Police originated with the raising of a small force with a strength of just 463 and called the State Military Police under the command of the-then political agent Crawford.

He said this become the 1st Bn Manipur Rifles.

`It was indeed a humble beginning for the State Police which is now considered one of the best police forces in the country and has a sanctioned strength of about 33000,` he observed.

The department is extremely grateful to the government which has despite constraints taken various steps for development and modernization of the force especially during last 10 years he said.

Radical development of the force has taken place not only in terms of numerical strength but also in terms of modernization- both in respect of equipment and training as well as orientation, the Police chief elaborated.

He also said that with an average yearly arrest of more than 1000 insurgents and recovery of about 500 weapons, the State police force is now in a position to handle not only insurgency but also other crimes and law and order problems.

Recently, the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), a MHA sponsored project was launch by Manipur Police, he said before adding that with the help of this system, criminal records of one police station will be accessible to all the police stations in the country.

During the last one year itself investigate 3500 cases and finalized and the performance may be improve if the FSL, Manipur is strengthened by filling up all the vacant posts he said.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/action-plan-in-place-to-check-insurgency-dgp/