The Manipur government has found the involvement of militant outfits in igniting the violence in the state since May 3 that has left several people dead and thousands displaced, said senior officials. Most of the militant outfits operating in Manipur have their base in Myanmar. The state has around 400 km of unfenced border, spread across five districts, with the neighbouring country. The state government has been advocating that the free movement regime with Myanmar be reviewed.

A senior official in the state government who does not want to be named told ET: “Just see the scale of violence and mobilisations. Gun-toting people were seen killing people. If militants were not involved, the situation cannot have aggravated to such an extent.”

The official added: “Now there is a fear that valley-based outfits, Meitei groups such as the United National Liberation Front, People’s Liberation Army and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, who are based in Myanmar, may look for an opportunity to strike.”

Last month, Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh met union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi and apprised him of the ground situation and the activities of three militant outfits: the Kuki National Army, Zomi Revolutionary Army and the Kuki Revolutionary Army. The Manipur government on March 10 withdrew from the suspension of operations agreement with three insurgent groups, following its assessment that these outfits were supporting the influx of Myanmarese immigrants and were also encouraging illegal poppy cultivation and the drug trade.

Biren Singh had accused a Myanmar-based militant outfit after a protest turned violent in Kangpokpiat Kangpokpi town. The protestors had alleged that some land in the hill districts had been wrongly declared as either reserve forest or wetland, and people living there had been forcefully evicted. Meanwhile, surveillance has been tightened along the border, including by deploying UAVs and helicopters. Deployment of Assam Rifles personnel has also been enhanced. India is erecting barbed wire fencing along the Myanmar border in Manipur.