The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has directed all its units deployed in Manipur to use only armoured vehicles for movement and avoid unplanned deployments following two deadly ambushes on Assam Rifles convoys in Manipur and Nagaland.
According to an agency report, CRPF personnel have been instructed to minimise unnecessary movement, ensure proper operational planning and exercise greater caution during deployments. The force has also directed personnel to act firmly against armed individuals by arresting suspects carrying weapons or using force if they refuse to surrender.
The fresh directives follow a series of attacks involving Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and coordinated gunfire targeting Assam Rifles personnel, prompting security agencies to strengthen convoy protection and review operational movement protocols across the Northeast.
The CRPF, the largest Central Armed Police Force deployed in Manipur, currently has around 200 companies comprising nearly 20,000 personnel stationed in the state. In addition, about 10,000 Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and around 26,000 Assam Rifles and Army personnel are deployed across the conflict-affected region.
The CRPF had inducted two battalions of its specialised Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) in Manipur in June. Nearly 100 armoured vehicles have also been moved to the state over the past two months to enhance troop protection during movement in vulnerable areas.
The latest measures come in the wake of an IED attack on an Assam Rifles convoy near Sukhovi in Nagaland’s Chumoukedima district on July 13, in which one personnel was killed and four others injured. The incident followed a similar ambush on July 6 in Manipur’s Ukhrul district, where two Assam Rifles personnel were killed and about eight others injured after militants triggered IED blasts and opened heavy fire on a convoy.