Manipur govt extends internet ban in state

The Manipur government on Wednesday extended the suspension of mobile data internet services for five days till October 16 evening, an official notification said.

Orders issued by the secretariat, home department, said the decision was taken "to thwart the activities and designs of anti-national and anti-social elements and to maintain the peace and communal harmony and to prevent loss of life" and that "it has become necessary to take adequate measures to maintain law and order in the public interest, by stopping the spread of disinformation and rumours through various social media platforms." Mobile internet was banned after violence broke out in the state on May 3. It was restored on September 23 following an announcement by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. However, it was again banned on September 26 after public agitation hit Imphal Valley after photographs of the bodies of two missing students went viral.

The ban on broadband since May 5 was, however, partially lifted in mid-July.

Meanwhile, frustration continues to mount over the prolonged mobile internet suspension with a Senapati district-based Naga students body imposing a highway blockade over the issue since October 5.