NEW DELHI, July 2: At least four persons were killed in fresh violence in Manipur after some miscreants allegedly attacked a Meitie village in the wee hours of Sunday.
The police said the incident took place in areas in the adjoining districts of Bishnupur and Churachandpur. Police said the villagers in Bishnupur were killed in an “unprovoked attack.” Bishnupur Superintendent of Police (SP) Heisnam Balram Singh said around 12.05 a.m. on Sunday bunkers set up by villagers near Khujuma Tabi, a Meitei village, were attacked by armed miscreants.
“The bunker set up by the villagers in the ridges when the violence started in May was attacked from two directions on Sunday. Three villagers were killed by the miscreants who have suspected to have come from the hills. By the time police reached the spot, they had left, but took vantage positions and an exchange of fire took place,” Singh said. He said the village runs along the State highway.
He said, following the incident, a large number of agitated people came out and stormed the nearby Kuki villages of Langza and Chinglangmei in Churachandpur district where one person was killed. “The police teams of Bishnupur and Churachandpur are coordinating to assess the scale of violence,” Singh said.
He added that locals took the bodies to Kumbi legislator Sanasam Premchandra Singh’s house where Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had also arrived. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) said around 12 a.m. on Sunday, the Kuki-Zo tribal villages of Langza and Chinglangmei were attacked. A village volunteer was killed. It said a church was razed to the ground.
As many as 138 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced since May 3, when the ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities erupted.
(Manas Dasgupta)
