A second Manipur Police commando has died amid renewed violence in Moreh, a small but significant trading town located a few hundred metres from the Myanmar border. Two other commandos, both critically injured, have been airlifted to state capital Imphal for treatment.

The commando who died late Wednesday was Takhellambam Saileshwore, sources told news agency PTI, while the first was named by Manipur Police as 32-year-old Wangkhem Somorjit Meetei.

The commandos came under heavy fire this morning, with attackers also using RPGs, or rocket-propelled grenades, sources said. The commandos returned effective fire but the presence of protesters made the situation volatile even as the attackers continued firing, sources added.

READ | Fresh Violence In Manipur, Commando Killed As Attackers Use Bombs, RPGs

Also, an elderly woman was reportedly injured, but the circumstances of her injury are unclear.

Visuals showed armed attackers pushing back a security forces truck as it tried to enter Moreh.

The violence comes around 48 hours after police arrested two Kuki tribals for their role in the October killing of a police officer, Chingtham Anand Kumar, triggering massive protests by Kuki-Zo groups.

READ | Manipur Asks For Choppers As Commando Killed In Border Violence

Moreh-based civil bodies, including Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal, condemned the arrest. Kuki tribes have accused Manipur Police of attacking their members – an allegation the cops have denied – and have demanded that central security forces replace state security personnel currently in the area.

Hundreds of people from Kuki tribes took to the streets of Moreh today to demand the release of the men who were arrested, one of whom is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

READ | Man Accused Of Killing Manipur Cop is BJP Leader; Party Expels Him

Meanwhile, during today’s attack several houses, and two schools, were damaged, either in the RPG strikes or arson-related incidents, leading to an unexpected but welcome sign of cross-border friendship – a fire engine from the Myanmar side rumbled across the border to help douse the blaze.

The Indian town of Moreh and Tamu on the Myanmar side are separated by less than half a kilometre.

The area, largely flat, is still remote and access to government services have been made more difficult than usual because of violence in the area. The aid by the Myanmar side has been seen a neighbour answering a call for help, and made possible because of the Free Movement Regime, or FMR.

READ | “If There Was Border Fencing…”: Manipur Chief Minister’s Myanmar Jab

The FMR – implemented in 1970 and revived by the Narendra Modi government in 2016 as part of its ‘Act East’ policy – allows hill tribe members from either India or Myanmar to cross the border with fewer checks than are normal when crossing international borders.

In the spotlight after ethnic violence in the state, with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh among those most vocal in calling for it to be scrapped and the border to be fenced, the FMR will be scrapped soon, a senior government official told PTI this month, adding a fence will be built by 2029.

Tensions between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis have simmered for eight months, with the clashes having claimed over 180 lives so far. The state says it is trying to quell an insurgent uprising in Moreh, but the Kukis have accused it of trying to occupy the area.

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Iran’s missile attack on Pakistan is an issue that concerns only those two nations, India said today. The foreign ministry, however, added that New Delhi understands “actions that countries take in their self defense”.

“This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan. Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self defense,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

Yesterday, two bases of Balochi militant group Jaish al Adl in Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles. The group had attacked Iranian security forces in the border area with Pakistan.

The attack came a day after Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards hit targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles.

Pakistan said two children were killed in the missile strikes and warned that the incident could have “serious consequences” and was “completely unacceptable”.

“A strong protest has already been lodged with the senior official concerned in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran. Additionally, the Iranian charge d’affaires has been called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey our strongest condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and that the responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran,” Islamabad said in a statement.

Low-cost carrier IndiGo has been fined Rs 1.2 crore by the Bureau Of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) after a viral video showed passengers eating on the tarmac as they waited for their delayed flight to take off.

The country’s aviation regulator, DGCA, also took cognisance of the video circulating on social media and ordered Mumbai Airport to pay Rs 30 lakh for the violation.

On Tuesday, the Centre issued show-cause notices to IndiGo and Mumbai Airport over the video of passengers eating on the tarmac.

IndiGo has been asked to pay the amount – the highest penalty to be imposed on a carrier in recent times – within 30 days, the Bureau Of Civil Aviation Security, or BCAS, said in a statement.

Calling it a “violation of apron discipline”, the DGCA said, “It came to the notice of the DGCA through social media that on January 15, passengers of two IndiGo flights were on the apron for a considerable period at the CSMI Airport, Mumbai (MIAL). This is in violation of Para 5 of DGCA Air Safety circular 04 of 2007 which directs all agencies working at the airport not to permit walking on an active apron. The presence of passengers on the apron for a considerable period is in violation of apron discipline as it jeopardised the safety of the passengers and the aircraft.”

The regulator further said that the response it received on January 17 from MIAL was not satisfactory as it showed that the airport “failed to adhere to the safety requirements as laid down in the Air Safety Circular 04 of 2007”. 

“DGCA, in view of the above violation, has taken enforcement action against MIAL and imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh vide order dated 17.01.2024 under relevant regulations,” it added.

Meanwhile, Air India and SpiceJet have been fined by the regulator for poor preparedness leading to fog delays. The two airlines have been fined Rs 30 lakh each for violation and non-compliance of Aircraft Rules, 1937, the DGCA said.

According to the statement, the DGCA holds meetings with airline operators and aerodrome operators before the onset of fog season every year. 

“The meeting to check preparedness for low visibility operations was held at DGCA HQs on November 6, 2023. In the meeting, instructions regarding rostering of CAT II/III and LVTO qualified pilots were issued to airline operators on low visibility operations and fog preparedness,” the regulator said.

“SpiceJet and Air India did not roster CAT II/III and LVTO-qualified pilots for some of the flights and thus failed to comply with the directions issued. This also constituted a violation of the relevant Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR),” the DGCA said, adding that it had analysed the flight delay/cancellation/diversion data submitted by the scheduled airlines for December 2023.

“Based on these violations and non-compliance with DGCA directives, show-cause notices were issued to SpiceJet and Air India on January 2… Both the airlines were imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh each for the violation and non-compliance under rule 133A of Aircraft Rules, 1937,” it added.

Fog delays that happen every winter took an unprecedented turn this year with visuals on social media showing people sitting in groups and eating meals on the tarmac, next to an aircraft.

In the video, exhausted passengers were seen sitting on the tarmac just a few steps away from an IndiGo plane, eating their meals after their Goa-Delhi flight was diverted to Mumbai due to low visibility in Delhi.

IndiGo in a statement said it was aware of the incident involving the Goa to Delhi flight on January 14. “The flight was diverted to Mumbai due to low-visibility conditions in Delhi. We sincerely apologise to our customers and are currently looking into the incident. We will take necessary steps to avoid any such instances in the future,” it said.