Violence in Manipur again, police commando killed, houses burnt

Combing operation on in search of over 800 weapons snatched by miscreants during the riot

Manipur reported violence again on Thursday when a commando of the state police was killed and three others were injured in an ambush conducted by suspected Kuki militants in the Bishnupur district.

The incident took place near Tonglaobi village when a vehicle carrying personnel of the 5th Manipur Rifles was entering the village for area domination. Three others were injured in the attack which took place at around 11 am, sources said. The involvement of the Kuki insurgent group is suspected.

The incident took place amid fresh violence that broke out in the Kangpokpi district when several houses were set on fire. Preliminary reports said the torched houses belonged to both the Kuki and Meitei communities. Angry Kuki residents reportedly blocked the NH-2 in at least seven to eight locations in Kangpokpi by burning tyres and tried to prevent trucks from transporting essential commodities from Dimapur in Nagaland to Manipur capital Imphal. The administration started transporting essential commodities during the time when the curfew was relaxed due to improvement in law and order situation in the past 72 hours.

Also Read | Manipur violence seems 'pre-planned', President's Rule must be imposed in state: Congress

On Wednesday, a jawan of Assam Rifles was injured in the Imphal East district when suspected Kuki militants opened fire.

The violence took place at a time the security forces launched a combing operation in search of over 800 weapons, which were snatched from the security forces during the riot between May 3 and 6. The forces have already recovered nearly 300 weapons but another 800 have still remained missing. The forces also launched a drive for inspection of the cadres and weapons of the Kuki insurgent groups, which are in suspension of operations agreement with the government, since 2008. There are at least 25 such groups. Security agencies suspect the involvement of the insurgent groups in the riot at Churachandpur, a Kuki-dominated district where the riot first started on May 3 and its subsequent spread to the Kuki-dominated districts in the Imphal Valley. Kukis are a minority in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley districts.

Also Read | From 4-year-olds to those in their 20s, violence scars Manipur’s young generation

At least 60 persons have died, and over 200 others were injured while nearly 1,700 houses were torched during the clash between the majority Meitis and the tribal Kukis. The violence displaced over 35,000 people. The Kukis, mostly Christians, are against the BJP government's reported move to give Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Hindu Meitis.