security personnel today provided an operational demonstration of an anti-drone system in Manipur, a region where violence happened.
Manipur Violence
Violence in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur between the Meitei people, basically lives in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki tribal community from the hill area. The cause of the violence was the Manipur High Court ordered the state government to send a recommendation to the central government on the demand for a Scheduled Tribe status by the valley-based Meitei community, a decision later criticised by the Supreme Court.
The protest of the Meitei community demands for the scheduled tribe status, the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur conducted peaceful protest marches on 3 May 2023. After one of these marches, clashes broke out between Kuki and Meitei groups near the border between the Churachandpur district and Bishnupur district. The violence quickly spread to the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur town and the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, targeting the minority community in each area. This Violence causes 77 Kukis and 10 Meiteis were killed within a week.
Since the beginning of this month, the violence in Manipur, which has been hit by ethnic clashes between Kukis and Meiteis since May 3 of last year, has increased. Militants have been using drones and rockets in addition to guns and grenades, but they have also been using modern technologies.
Over the course of the last week, bombs dropped by drones have been deployed in at least three locations, resulting in the death of one woman and the injuries of over twelve others. Security officials in the northeastern state think that the armed militia groups are dropping the bombs using expensive drones containing “impact explosives” that can fly at greater altitudes.
The strikes on Sunday marked the first time that suspected rebels in India have used weaponized drones to drop bombs on civilian areas. According to the Manipur Police, the attacks were carried out by suspected Kuki insurgents.
Anti-drone system use in Manipur
A few days after a man was killed in weaponized drone attacks carried out by suspected Kuki rebels from the hills close to the valley district Imphal West, security personnel today provided a demonstration of an anti-drone system in operation in the violent state of Manipur.
According to officials of the state home department, an anti-drone system would also be placed at the Manipur legislature, the Raj Bhavan, and the chief minister’s office. This was already the subject of a pending proposal. We will complete this as soon as possible. An representative from the residence remarked, “Police have been instructed to expedite the installation of this project.”
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The Manipur Police claimed in a statement on Saturday night that the Assam Rifles had placed a few anti-drone systems throughout the state, and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had also given one anti-drone system to security forces in the state devastated by ethnic violence.
In the meantime, amid the use of drones in recent militant attacks, the Manipur director general of police (DGP) formed a committee on September 2 with the approval of the Central government. The committee consisted of five top officials: the lieutenant general of the army’s 57 Mountain division, the Manipur ADGP, the major general of the Assam Rifles, and inspector generals from the CRPF and Border Security Force (BSF).A team of experts from National Security Guards and IIT Delhi are also in Manipur and working with the committee.
