At least one person has been killed and three others injured in fresh gunfights that occurred in the early hours of Sunday along the border between the Kangpokpi and Imphal West districts in Manipur, where the ethnic conflict between the valley-based Meitei and the hills-based Kuki-Zo communities continues.
This comes within 24 hours of an attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Narainsena of Bishnupur district by unidentified militants, who had killed two CRPF personnel and injured two others. Manipur Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh declared that no stone would be left unturned to punish those responsible.
The latest clash began around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, with gunfire being reported from Koutruk village in Imphal West district, police sources told The Hindu.
Firing from both sides
Following this, “miscreants from the valley-side and the hill-side were engaged in exchange of fire”, one of the police sources said, adding that security operations were launched immediately. Another police source added, “The situation was brought under control and both groups of armed miscreants were dispersed. Given the situation, it is not possible right now to say where the firing started from.”
Soon after the clash, the Committee on Tribal Unity in Kangpokpi called for a shutdown across the district till 5 a.m. on Monday.
Security officials said that, during the day, firing had also spread to villages near Koutruk such as Kadangband and Senjam Chirang, also lying along the border between Imphal West and Kangpokpi districts.
Village defence volunteer killed
While the Manipur Police is investigating the latest incident, central security forces are conducting joint area domination exercises, sources said. The Manipur Police is yet to issue an official statement on the firing.
The deceased has been identified as 44-year-old Lamman Kipgen of the L. Molsang Village in Kangpokpi district. The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) in Kangpokpi said that Mr. Kipgen was with other Kuki-Zo village defence volunteers when they started facing gunfire in the Leimakhong area. Mr. Kipgen was shot and killed at around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, the KSO said.
It added that the funeral for Mr. Kipgen, who is survived by his wife and five children, will be held on Sunday at the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Kangpokpi’s Phaijang.
The ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur has left over 220 people dead since it began on May 3 last year, injuring thousands of others, and internally displacing tens of thousands of residents.
While there was a short lull in the violence in the weeks after the Election Commission of India announced the Lok Sabha election, the most-recent spate of violence resumed just days before the State went to the polls, when one Kuki-Zo village volunteer was killed and his body mutilated by armed miscreants.
