Mokokchung, 7 May (MTNews): As many as 676 civilians of Nagaland were safely evacuated by security forces from violence-hit Manipur on Sunday. The evacuation operation dubbed ‘Operation Kohima Calling’ was carried out by the Assam Rifles in coordination with Nagaland Government.
Among those rescued were people who went to Manipur with their families in search of work, 162 students and doctors of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal, 40 students of Central Agriculture University, seven students of Food Technology College, 19 students of Manipur University, and five of the National Sports Academy.
The evacuated persons were received at the IGAR (North) Kohima in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister, Yanthungo Patton, Nagaland DGP Rupin Sharma, Inspector General of Assam Rifles Vikas Lakhera and other senior government officials and parents.
During a reception program, Patton in his speech acknowledged the Almighty for bringing the citizens back to Nagaland. The Deputy Chief Minister apologized for the delay in the rescue operation. He said the incident took place for a few days but the state could not immediately evacuate the citizens like Meghalaya or Arunachal Pradesh as their numbers compared to Nagaland were few and that they arranged chartered flights considering the distance.
He said 676 people have been rescued so far, and efforts are underway to bring back another 650 people from various parts of Manipur.
He encouraged the students not to let the situation disturb their studies but continue even from their homes until the situation is normalized.
Denouncing the criticism towards Nagaland government over the evacuation, DGP Sharma said the government is more interested in the safety of the citizens at Imphal and Manipur, and that it was in contact with the Assam Rifles and Manipur government, police and the CRPF to ensure the safety and adequate protection and ensuring that there will be no harm.
Inspector General, Assam Rifles, Vikas Lakhera said the joint operation with the Government of Nagaland, state Police and the civil society was deliberately planned and took responsibility to bring back the citizens safely.
Meanwhile, the district administration had arranged five buses to drop the citizens to Dimapur free of cost while additional 30 Taxis were also arranged for interested persons to make use of the service to reach Dimapur.
It may be mentioned that a total of 14 buses entered Imphal on 6 May of which 10 belonged to the NST and four buses were from the Police department. Three NST buses were already stationed in Imphal some days back and five stand-by NST buses were stationed in Senapati.
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio expresses happiness
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has expressed happiness about the safe return of people from Nagaland. Taking to twitter, Rio appreciated all those involved in coordinating the process, and to the paramilitary forces, especially the Assam Rifles, for partnering with the State Government in ensuring the return of people from Manipur.
