Allegations of excesses by security personnel in Manipur have been long been doing the rounds. Now, an Imphal woman’s Twitter rant against harassment by the CRPF has gone viral.
In a series of tweets, Swar Thounaojam talked about how her sister, who owns a shop in Imphal, is harassed by CRPF personnel, along with other shopkeepers.
She alleged that CRPF jawans stare at her the whole day and ask her irrelevant questions in the guise of “interrogation”. On the pretext of finding “bombs”, they kick around garbage cans and litter the place.
The soldiers also inconvenience customers, affecting her sister’s and other shopkeepers’ business.
The CRPF personnel are posted at the state Governor’s residence. They have allegedly taken to harassing shopkeepers in Imphal’s biggest market, which happens to be right behind the Governor’s bungalow. In a tweet, Thounaojam also refers to a public rally held to demand that the Governor vacates the bungalow.
The Twitter rant purportedly exposes the unfettered power that security forces have in the north-east, which they wield as and when they please.
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