GUWAHATI
Four people died and five others were injured when unidentified gunmen fired indiscriminately in a crowded area of Lilong in Manipur’s Thoubal district on Monday evening.
Lilong is a town in Imphal Valley dominated by the Meitei Muslims, also called Pangals. This was the first incident of violence not involving tribal communities since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
Soon after the killings, the local authorities reimposed curfew in Thoubal and the adjoining Imphal East and Imphal West districts. The relaxation of curfew in two other Imphal Valley districts – Kakching and Bishnupur – was shortened.
Senior police officials did not take calls but locals said the masked assailants came wearing camouflage clothes and sprayed bullets from sophisticated firearms, killing four people on the spot. The injured were rushed to a district hospital.
Enraged by the firing, locals set fire to some vehicles the assailants had used to come to the area. “The attackers ran away from the spot,” a local said.
Chief Minister N. Biren Singh condemned the incident. “The police are trying to arrest the perpetrators. They will be punished as per the law. I appeal to the people, especially those from Lilong, to maintain calm and help the government hunt down the criminals,” he said in a video message with folded hands.
A police source said the killings were not related to the ethnic violence between the majority Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo people. The source further said the killings appear linked to an issue involving narcotics and drugs.
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A large number of weapons were looted from police armouries after ethnic violence erupted in the State last year. Most of the weapons are still with civilians and have not been recovered by the police.
Eight months of violence in Manipur has left some 200 people dead and 60,000 others displaced so far.
