Kohima (Nagaland) [India], May 10 : A total of 1,229 persons from Nagaland, including medical students and families in violent incidents in Mpur have been evacuated since May 6 to date in two phases, said the government officials on Wednesday.
The Assam Rifles launched 'Operation Kohima Calling' under the aegis of HQ Inspectorate General Assam Rifles (North) to evacuate the people stranded in Mpur.
As per the Nagaland Defence official, a total of 676 people were evacuated in the first phase of the operation while a total of 553 people were in the second phase which includes 47 Konyak girls from Yoripok, Thoubal.
"The first phase of the operation was led by Brig Ved Beniwal, Deputy Inspector General of IGAR (North), rich in experience of Mpur and Insurgency situations, whereas during the IInd phase Colonel Umesh Sati, Commandant, 1 Assam Rifles led the evacuation," the official statement said.
"To rescue the 47 Konyak girls, the rescue team went to the interiors of Thoubal District to extricate these girls. They were all working on an hourly wage basis in a Veneer factory," it added.
Indian Army and Assam Rifles which were called in to curb violence in Mpur have successfully rescued nearly 23,000 civilians so far and moved them to the operating bases, a statement from the Indian Army said.
Earlier, the rescue operation for the evacuation of Nagaland citizens commenced on May 6. More than six hundred civilians have already been evacuated from the state.
The violence in Mpur had erupted in the immediate aftermath of inter-community clashes in a few districts of the northeastern State amid protests against the inclusion of the majority Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
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