Bodies of 10 Kuki-Zo youths killed in gunfight airlifted to Churachandpur after violent protests

Guwahati: The bodies of the 10 Kuki-Zo youths killed in a gunfight with security personnel in Manipur's Jiribam town were on Saturday airlifted to Churachandpur from Assam's Silchar town, where the autopsies were conducted.

Earlier in the day, police had to resort to lathi-charge outside the Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) after the family members of the youths clashed with forces, demanding the bodies be handed over to them.

Assam Police officials tried to convince them that the bodies would be handed over to Manipur Police, and they could take the matter up with the authorities there.

However, the agitated family members refused to accept the proposal, attacking police personnel and resorting to stone pelting, injuring several people, including four journalists, one of whom was a female scribe.

The situation was brought under control after Cachar SP Numal Mahatta informed the families that no further unrest would be tolerated and that they would need to collect the bodies in Churachandpur.

The family members eventually agreed to the proposal, and both Manipur and Assam Police jointly airlifted the bodies to Churachandpur, where they arrived on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the postmortem of a woman and two children, who were found floating on Jiri River in Manipur's Jiribam district, has begun at SMCH.

"The report is expected to be available later on Saturday or Sunday. The bodies, which were brought to Silchar at 7 pm on Friday, are suspected to be those of three persons who went missing from a relief camp on Monday and were allegedly held hostage by 'militants'," sources said.

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that the bodies of the remaining three hostages have also been found, though no official statement has been issued.

The hostages, all from Meitei community, included three children and three women. They were abducted by a group of suspected Kuki-Zo youths from Bokobera in Jiribam when another group was engaged in an encounter with CRPF forces, resulting in the deaths of the 10 militants.

Due to a lack of infrastructure in Jiribam, autopsies of the bodies were conducted at SMCH.

Ethnic violence-hit Manipur has witnessed renewed violence in different districts, including Jiribam, over the last two weeks.