Manipur: Audio purportedly featuring CM Biren Singh meant to incite communal violence, claims police

The Manipur Police on Monday said that an audio clip, claiming to feature Chief Minister N Biren Singh taking credit for “how and why the conflict started”, was doctored.

The police reiterated that the clip was being circulated with the aim of inciting communal violence in the state and to “derail peace initiatives”.

The content had been widely shared on social media and in news reports by The Wire, said the police.

In a three-part series published on Wednesday, The Wire said that the 48-minute audio clip was recorded during a meeting at the chief minister’s residence in late 2023.

On the clip, a voice purported to be that of Singh is heard taking credit for “how and why the conflict started” bragging that he had defied Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s order against the use of “bombs” in the conflict and shielding individuals who snatched thousands of weapons from the state police armouries from arrest.

Singh is also Manipur’s home minister, which brings the state’s police under his command.

Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities since May 2023. At least 226 persons have died and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the beginning of the clashes, Singh told the state Assembly on August 2.

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