A fragile peace established in strife-torn Manipur was rattled in the early hours of Friday after unidentified militants dressed in olive-green fatigues walked into a village and opened fire, killing three residents and injuring another two, marking the first reports of violence in the northeastern state in four days.
Security personnel in Manipur on Friday. (ANI)
Security personnel in Manipur on Friday. (ANI)
Read here: CBI forms SIT, files 6 FIRs to probe Manipur violence
An army officer aware of developments said the killings occurred around 4.30am in Khoken, a Kuki-dominated village on the boundary between Kangpokpi and Imphal West districts, when a group of militants dressed on olive-green fatigues — resembling the uniform of security personnel — walked in, pretending to be part of a combing operation to retrieve stolen weapons.
“Some combing exercises are being undertaken at night, so this was not a surprise. The militants shot at four people, of which three succumbed to their injuries. The village where this happened is the first village of Kukis after Saheibung, which is a Meitei-domintated village,” said the officer, requesting anonymity.
This is the first major report of violence in Manipur since Sunday night, when an eight-year-old boy, his mother and a relative were charred to death when a mob set fire to an ambulance ferrying them to a hospital in West Imphal district. The killing also eroded the tenuous peace established in the state by security forces and highlighted that ethnic tensions — especially between the Kukis and the Meiteis — continued to run high. It also pushed the death toll in the state to 105.
A police officer aware of the details said at around 7am, officials of the New Keithelmanbi police station received information about the shooting, but they could go to the village only around 3.30pm because they didn’t have a single Kuki officer who could enter the Kuki-dominated village.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an umbrella group of Kuki groups in Churachandpur, confirmed that members of their community were attacked by people dressed in olive-green fatigues. “The villagers assumed the attackers were security personnel who had come to the village for a combing operation. They (attackers) were dressed in olive green fatigues,” the group said in a statement.
ITLF mentioned that security personnel, who were on patrol in a nearby village, arrived and engaged in a gunfight with the attackers.To be sure, police said the identity of the attackers were yet to be ascertained.
“Two people died on the spot while the third succumbed to injuries later,” said the police officer quoted above. Among the dead were two men and a woman, said ITLF.
The killings came hours after two motorcycle-borne men hurled a grenade at the house of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker S Kebi in Imphal West district late on Thursday night. No one was injured in the incident, police said. There was no information to suggest any link between the incidents.
Read here: Football gasps for breath in violence-hit Manipur
The fresh bouts of violence are a setback for the administration, which had gained some measure of control after ethnic clashes first rocked the state on May 3. It showed that despite some easing of tensions, anger and distrust continued to simmer and drive wedges between various communities. Therefore, the authorities must remain alert for any attempts to ratchet up violence and redouble efforts to bridge the trust deficit between communities.
Clashes first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a court-proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The authorities clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes. Internet is still not back in the state.
After the initial spell of violence, security forces and a revamped security leadership managed to establish some measure of control. But Friday’s deaths highlighted the steep challenge for the administration in a state where 105 have died, 300 have been injured and nearly 40,000 displaced since May 3. At least 2,000 houses and shops have been burnt in the violence.
Last week, Union home minister Amit Shah visited the state for four days, met groups from various communities, and announced an impartial probe.
During his four-day visit to the state, Shah had met different Kuki and Meitei groups, civil society organisations, and groups of citizens. On his last day in Manipur, Shah urged people to surrender arms and warned of strict action against those who failed to do so. This came after mobs from various communities broke into armouries of different police stations and fled with around 3,500 guns and 500,000 ammunition.
Read here: Amid violence, Manipur police recovers 57 arms, over 1500 ammunition in last 24 hours
On Wednesday, the army and police launched a combing operation. The Indian Army is conducting operations across 11 districts and using drones and quadcopters because of the terrain. Till Friday, they had recovered just short of 900arms. The government has also announced a ₹101.75 crore relief package.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Prawesh Lama covers crime, policing, and issues of security in Delhi. Raised in Darjeeling, educated in Mumbai, he also looks at special features on social welfare in the National Capital.
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