'Manipur people who took shelter in Assam returning to their homes'

The people from violence-hit Manipur who had earlier taken shelter in Assam's Cachar district have started returning to their homes as the situation is improving in the neighbouring state, an official said on Wednesday.

Around 2,300 people, largely belonging to the Kuki community, crossed the Jiri River at Assam-Manipur border and entered the Cachar district after violence erupted in several districts in Manipur.

They were placed at temporary shelter camps in Cachar and the district administration provided them with food and other necessary commodities.

A top Cachar district official told IANS: "Some people have already started moving to their homes. Normally, they do not inform us about their movement but we have noticed that the refugee numbers have fallen in the camps. At least 3,000-odd people moved back from the shelter camps."

The situation along the Assam-Manipur border is peaceful, the official added.

Meanwhile, Cachar Superintendent of Police, Numal Mahatta, said that the police have been keeping a strong vigil in areas where the refugees from violence-hit Manipur have taken shelter.

They have earlier conducted some meetings with the locals so that no untoward incidents happen to the refugees.

Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that the refugees would go back to their homes within a couple of days.

He said: "The situation is improving in Manipur. I have spoken with the district administration in Cachar. People who have taken shelter in camps there will return to their homes in the next couple of days."

The Assam government has also sent a police team of four officers headed by an IGP-level officer last week to Manipur to bring back people of Assam stranded there.

DGP G.P. Singh said: "Most of the people residing there are not willing to come back. However, we have arranged transportation for those who intended to return."