Six policemen among nine injured during eviction drive in Manipur

With fresh encroachment being observed, the department carried out the eviction drive, which was met with resistance, prompting the law enforcers to use force.

Three forest guards and six police personnel suffered serious injuries on Tuesday after residents of a village in Manipur's Kangpokpi district pelted them with stones during an eviction drive there, an official statement said.

The drive, involving 300 forest department personnel and policemen, was carried out at Kangchup Chiru village to ''demarcate the boundary of notified forest (area) of the state'', it said. The injured personnel have been admitted to hospitals, while some of the villagers were also injured, an official said. ''Eviction notices were served to encroachers to remove all structures erected inside the reserve forest'', the statement issued by Kangpokpi Divisional Forest Officer N Ganesh said, adding that they were given time to do so.

According to the statement, the alleged encroachers did not pay heed to the notices. With ''fresh encroachment'' being observed, the department carried out the eviction drive, which was ''met with resistance'', prompting the law enforcers to use force.