Security personnel in Manipur
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: The bodies of a woman and two minor children were found floating in a river in conflict-torn Manipur on Friday, with police suspecting them to be among the six Meitei women and children who went missing during violence in Jiribam district on November 7.
The bodies, found in the Jiri river, were taken to Silchar Medical College and Hospital in neighbouring Assam for post-mortem, a Manipur police official -- requesting anonymity -- said that a search is under way for the other three.
Manipur police or government has not yet confirmed it.
The six, belonging to the same family, had gone missing during the violence in Jiribam district on November 7, when 10 "armed militants" belonging to the Hmar community were gunned down by the CRPF and Manipur police personnel. Police said bodies of two elderly internally displaced persons were found after the gunfight while six more were found missing in the area under Borobekra police station. The missing persons included three women and three children, one just about eight months old and another two-and-half years.
Police said the 10 were killed in a "retaliatory attack" after they struck a CRPF camp and the Borobekra police station, where some displaced persons were provided shelter.
Some organisations representing the Meitei community, however, claimed that the six were abducted by the "Kuki insurgents." Kuki organisations did not respond to such a claim.
The bodies were found on a day the Coordination Committee on Manipur Unity (COCOMI) dispatched a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention for the safe release of the six. Imphal Valley witnessed strong protests against the alleged abduction of the six.