Hours after polling, 2 CRPF men killed, 2 others injured in Bishnupur attack

According to police, unidentified miscreants launched an attack on a police and Indian Reserve Battalion camp at Narenseina village following which an explosion took place in a CRPF camp injuring of four CRPF personnel, out of which two succumbed to their injuries.

Guwahati: Hours after the Lok Sabha polls were concluded in conflict-hit Manipur, two CRPF personnel were killed, and two others were injured after their camp came under an attack in the "buffer zone" in Bishnupur district at around 12.30am on Saturday.

According to police, unidentified miscreants launched an attack on a police and Indian Reserve Battalion camp at Narenseina village following which an explosion took place in a CRPF camp injuring of four CRPF personnel.

Two of the injured, a sub-inspector and a head constable, succumbed to their injuries.

Bishnupur is a Meitei-dominated district and shares its boundary with the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district.

Although police said that those who are involved in the attack were yet to be identified, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a forum of Kuki organisations in Churachandpur, rejected reports alleging involvement of Kuki armed people in the attack.

The group blamed the militants belonging to the Meitei community for the attack.

"The Kuki-Zo tribes have always appreciated the presence of central security forces and we have lauded their efforts in protecting the lives of civilians...It is the Meitei population which have repeatedly stopped the central forces from maintaining peace by blocking their movement while the Meitei militants attacked tribal villages," ITLF said in a statement on Saturday.

Calling the attack on security forces "cowardice", Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the sacrifice by the CRPF personnel "would not go in vain".

The attack took place hours after the polling took place in most parts of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency, where the Nagas and the Kukis are deciding factors.

Voting in the Meitei-dominated Inner Manipur seat (comprising Bishnupur) was conducted on April 19, but re-polling had to be conducted in 11 polling stations following a firing by armed miscreants and booth capturing. The two constituencies registered an overall 81.90 per cent polling.

More than 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 others have been displaced due to the conflict between Meities and Kukis since May 3 last year.

Recent incidents:

April 13: Two Kukis were killed in an attack allegedly by Meitei armed people along the "buffer zone" between Imphal West and Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district.

April 19: A person was injured in a firing by a suspected Meitei armed man outside a polling station in Imphal East district during the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

April 23: Firing along the Imphal West and Kangpokpi district.

April 24: IED explosions on a bridge in Kangpokpi district on NH-2 which connects Imphal with Nagaland.