Security personnel stand guard in Manipur.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: A woman farmer belonging to Meitei community was killed in firing by suspected Kuki militants in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Saturday morning.
The incident took place at around 11.30 am at Saiton area, when the woman, Ongbi Sofia Devi, was working in her field. The woman died on the spot as militants fired several rounds from a nearby forest targeting the farmers working in paddy field. The area shares its boundary with Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district.
A video shared on social media showed several other farmers rushed to her but Devi succumbed to her injuries in the field.
The spot is close to the "buffer zone" that separates Meitei-dominated Bishnupur and Churachandpur. Central security forces have been manning the area since the conflict involving the Meitei and Kuki community started in May last year.
BSF and other central security forces rushed and cordoned off the area. Sources said a combing operation was immediately launched in search of the assailants.
This comes a day after a 31-year-old woman teacher belonging to Hmar community was allegedly raped and burnt alive by suspected Meitei armed persons in Jiribam district. Husband of the victim alleged in his FIR that armed men of Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei armed radical group, fired at the villagers before they caught his wife and killed her.
Manipur police, however, has not yet issued any statement about both the incidents.
Manipur has remained roiled in the Meitei-Kuki conflict, in which nearly 240 people have been killed and over 60,000 others displaced. Sporadic incidents of violence have continued despite the presence of a large number of security forces, including the army.