A torchlight vigil in Manipur’s Kakching district demanding NRC updation prior to the Census exercise in the northeastern state turned violent, with some protesters pelting the police with stones, and the law enforcers retaliating with tear gas shells, leading to injuries to a few agitators, officials said on Monday.

Hundreds of villagers from Wabagai, Hiyanglam and surrounding areas took out a 3-km-long protest march on Sunday night, raising the slogan of ‘No NRC, No Census’, and opposed the exercise before resettlement of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

As the rally proceeded towards the Kakching district headquarters, police stopped the agitators near the Keirak Dam area and asked them to return, they said.

The tension spiralled into violence, with some among the protesters resorting to stone-pelting, prompting the police to fire several tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. A few protesters sustained minor injuries, the officials added.

More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis in Manipur since May 2023.

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