GUWAHATI: Protestors torched at least one vehicle and clashed with the personnel of central armed police forces (CAPF) as the Centre sought to restore free movement for people on all roads in ethnic violence-hit Manipur from Saturday.At a high-level Manipur security review meeting in New Delhi on March 1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had issued directions to restore free movement and take action against anyone attempting to create obstructions. Acting on that directive, the Manipur State Transport (MST) plied two buses – one on the Imphal-Kangpokpi-Senapati route and another on the Imphal-Bishnupur-Churachandpur route – with security provided by CAPF personnel.Similarly, the Federations of Civil Society (FOCS), which is a conglomerate of 20 Imphal Valley-based organisations, took out a peace expedition from Imphal. The destination was Senapati. The Kuki-majority Kangpokpi lies between the Imphal Valley and Senapati which is a Naga-majority district. The participants in the expedition, who were travelling in some vehicles, returned to Imphal from a place near the Kangpokpi district following resistance from the police and CAPF personnel.Meanwhile, crowds were building in different parts of Kangpokpi district to thwart the FOCS expedition and the movement of the Senapati-bound MST bus. They erected barricades on a national highway by putting boulders and rocks and burning tyres.
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