Militants kill two CRPF personnel in Manipur

In the –rst instance of a targeted attack on Central security forces since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur a year ago, two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and two were seriously injured in Bishnupur district on Saturday when unidenti–ed militants –red at their camp and caused an explosion, police o—cials said.

Kuldiep Singh, security adviser to Manipur government, did not specify the name of the group responsible for the attack, but said that “whatever group is active in the area is responsible and I do not need to repeat the names”.

He said the attack was reported at 12.50 a.m. assive forest –res sweeping through the dense foliage in the mountains of Uttarakhand for the past 72 hours have gutted over 142 hectares of forest land in the State. With a –re reaching the vicinity of an Air Force Station near the Nanda range, the Indian Air Force on Saturday deployed a Mi-17 V5 helicopter to douse the ¢ames using a ‘Bambi Bucket’.

The Forest Department said 23 fresh forest –res were reported on Saturday. Thirty-one such –res were reported on Friday and 54 on Thursday.

The Indian Army, on the request of the Forest Department, has also deployed two columns for –re–ghting in Kumaon.

District Forest O—cer, Nainital, Chandra Shekhar Joshi told The Hindu that a forest –re was –rst reported earlier this week in the Nanda range, and it later spread downwards.

“The IAF has sought permission from the district administration to draw water from the Bhimtal Lake using Bambi Bucket. They are dousing the –re near their establishment,

Mwhile the rest of the –res are being controlled by the Forest Department,” Mr. Joshi said.

The Bambi Bucket in a Mi-17 V5 helicopter can hold up to 3,500 litres of water at a time.

Mr. Joshi said the –re spread around 10 km from the city of Nainital and all e¨orts were being taken to bring it under control.

Expressing concern over the raging forest –res, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government was working hard to bring them under control.

“The forest –res are a challenge for us. This is a big –re. We are working for all the essential needs. We have asked for help from the Army... I am going to conduct a meeting in Haldwani today. We have conducted a meeting in Dehradun also regarding this. We will try to control the –re as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the respective district administrations had been directed to take action against those found guilty of setting –re to the forests.

The forest –re protection team formed under the leadership of Divisional Forest O—cer of Rudraprayag caught a person named Naresh Bhatt from Tadiyal village, Tehsil-Jakholi.

He was trying to set –re to the forests to pave a way for grazing of goats, the district administration said in a press release.

In another arrest, Hemant Singh and Bhagwati Lal were caught for allegedly starting a –re in the Dangwal village of North Jakholi. The accused were booked under the Indian Forest Act 1927 and sent to jail.

ANI Red alert: A firefighter works on dousing a fire in the mountains near Nainital. As many as 23 new forest fires were reported in Uttarakhand on Saturday.