Ukhrul, August 20: The Director General of Assam Rifles, Lt. Gen. Vikas Lakhera, said on Wednesday that security forces have documented about 42,000 people entering Manipur from across the Myanmar border since December 21 last year, in an effort to tighten monitoring of cross-border movement amid unrest in the region.
Speaking at a lecture on “Geopolitical Developments in Myanmar & Its Impact on the Indo–Myanmar Border, with Special Focus on Manipur” at Manipur University, Lt. Gen. Lakhera said biometric records of those entering have been collected and shared with government agencies. “We have mapped 42,000 people coming here from across the border since December 21 last year. Biometrics have been taken and shared with all agencies — Aadhaar card, ID, everything,” he told the gathering.
The Assam Rifles chief noted that more than 20 battalions are currently deployed along the Indo–Myanmar border. Border fencing, he said, is underway and once completed is expected to significantly reduce illegal crossings.
The lecture was jointly organized by Assam Rifles and Manipur University. Among the guest speakers was Dr. Om Prakash Das, a research fellow at the South East Asia & Oceania Centre of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. Dr. Das, a specialist in India–Myanmar relations and border security, spoke about Myanmar’s evolving political landscape and its implications for India’s northeast.
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Former chief minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh took to X and reacted, “I thank Lt Gen Shri Vikas Lakhera, AVSM, SM, DG Assam Rifles, for confirming that biometrics are being collected from illegal entrants crossing the Indo Myanmar border. The very need for such a measure underlines an undeniable truth that the influx of outsiders into our region is real and ongoing. It is equally reassuring that these individuals are being kept under close watch, accommodated only at secure locations, and monitored under strict authority. The message is clear. The Northeast is not blind to what is happening, nor is it leaving anything to chance.”