Neutralize miscreants if found roaming with weapons in civilian areas of Manipur: CRPF DG

Security agencies have identified the availability of weapons to civilians as a major problem in violence-hit Manipur. File | Photo credit: PTI

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General GP Singh has asked the personnel deployed in Manipur to “neutralize” miscreants roaming in civilian areas with weapons.

Mr Singh said this during an interaction with CRPF personnel in Manipur on Saturday, according to a 6.05-minute video clip seen by The Hindu. He said it was discussed at the highest levels of the government and added, “It is expected that there will be a turnaround in the situation in the northeastern state in the next 1-1.5 years.

More than 6,000 police weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were looted from armories after ethnic violence erupted in the state on May 3, 2023. Security agencies have consistently cited the availability of large numbers of weapons to civilians as a major security concern.

In the video, the CRPF officer said that personnel need not worry about firing at anything and he, as director general, will protect any “good faith action”.

“If you don’t shoot the miscreants, why did the government give us so many arms and ammunition. I have your back. As long as I am here, I don’t have to worry about any (legal) action,” Mr Singh said, referring to the April 7 incident in which CRPF personnel opened fire when a mob attacked a force camp in Gelnutemol, a buffer zone in Kuki-Zitemol district of Kuki-Ziteli. 2023. Shooting resulted in the death of three protesters.

The crowd had gathered to protest the killing of two Meitei children in a “bomb attack” earlier in the day. Gelmol was once a Kuki-Zo village, but after ethnic violence broke out on 3 May 2023, the tribal community was displaced and the village became a CRPF base camp.

When contacted, Mr Singh said the video was for “internal purposes”.

“I have appealed to the troops in Manipur and urged them to take the strongest possible legal action against the armed miscreants. I have always maintained that the responsibility for any bona fide action taken by the troops will be mine as commander,” he said.

The officer said in the video that the security forces should prepare themselves in the coming days to deal with all types of miscreants.

“There are two scenarios. One is armed miscreants, some of them are active militant groups or with surrendered militant groups, all of them have weapons. They are misusing weapons to disrupt the situation in Manipur. The other is the law and order issue that is associated with armed miscreants,” the crowd said, to provide shelter to these armed groups to create pressure.

He further said that it will be necessary to create a calibrated strategy to deal with both scenarios in collaboration with the local police and the strategy should be futuristic and not merely reactionary. “Learn more about events planned in the next 24 hours or 7-30 days and how they can be stopped at the source,” he added.

“Anyone caught in civilian areas with arms should be neutralized. Please make no doubt about it, I am making this clear,” the CRPF DG said, adding, “If people continue to charge despite repeated warnings, then the use of force is fully justified.”

The CRPF is one of the largest central forces deployed in Manipur. Recently, two battalions of the Commando for Resolute Action (CoBRA) Battalion, a specialized unit formed for anti-Maoist operations, were deployed in the state.

“When we said last year that Naxalism will be ended, no one believed us. Next in line is Manipur,” Mr. Singh said.

More than 260 people have been killed in the state since ethnic violence erupted in 2023, and tensions between the Naga and Kuki communities have added a new dimension to the conflict since February 7 this year.

Published – 07 Jun 2026 22:26 IST