SW News: The government of the restive Indian state of Manipur has told the Supreme Court that as many as 142 people were killed in ethnic violence over the past two months. The Biren Singh government filed a fresh status report before the bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha on Monday, July 10 in which it said that 5,595 First Information Reports (FIRs) have been filed.

To restore calm and to prevent further violence, 6,745 people have been detained by police, said the government in its report. The government also told the top court of the country that six cases have been transferred to the CBI, the federal investigation agency, for further probe. As per the report, 5,000 arson incidents took place within this period and the greatest number of casualties were in Imphal East and West Districts.

According to the report, the government is reviewing security deployment on a daily basis and 124 companies of paramilitary forces and 184 army columns have been deployed to maintain law and order. The report also mentioned that children residing in camps for internally displaced persons are being connected with the nearest schools to ensure that their studies are not affected. Several examinations have also been conducted so far.

The Manipur government is also considering the step-by-step relaxation of the internet ban by dealing with it on a case-by-case basis. Ever since violence erupted between the dominant Hindu Meitei group and the mostly Christian Kuki tribals, internet connectivity has been cut in the northeastern state. The authorities are also expanding the curfew relaxation hours after studying the ground report in the violence-affected areas.

It was last week that the Supreme Court asked the Biren Singh government to file the latest status report on the situation in the state.