One policeman killed and 3 others injured in fresh violence at Manipur's Moreh, situation tense

Kuki group ITLF claimed at least 17 houses belonging to Kuki residents and two schools were burnt down by armed miscreants belonging to the Meitei community.

Guwahati: A jawan of Manipur Rifles was gunned down and three other police personnel were injured after a police camp at the border town Moreh in conflict-hit Manipur was ambushed Wednesday morning allegedly by armed militants.

In a social media post, Manipur police said "armed militants" attacked the state forces with firearms and explosives early morning killing the jawan Wangkhem Somorjit Meetei and injuring three other personnel. The injured were later airlifted to Imphal for treatment. 

Sources said gunfight followed the attack in some other locations in Moreh as the security forces, mostly Manipur police commandos, launched a manhunt for those involved in the attack on the police camp near SBI, Moreh.

Moreh is a Kuki-dominated town situated in Tengnoupal district sharing a border with Myanmar. 

Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a forum of Kuki organisations, in the evening claimed that at least 17 houses belonging to Kuki residents and two schools were burnt down by armed miscreants belonging to the Meitei community, after the attack.     

Fearing further escalation of the situation, Manipur home department wrote to MHA seeking requisition of helicopters for airlifting the injured persons as well as reinforcements and ammunition to Moreh. 

The fresh gunfight took place amid a curfew imposed by the Tengnoupal district administration in view of the tension following the arrest of two Kuki men on Monday. The two local Kuki leaders, Philip Khaikholai Khongsai and Hemkholai Mate, were arrested for their alleged involvement  in the killing of a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Chingtham Anand Kumar, at Moreh on October 31 last year. 

Amid protests by Kuki organisations for their release, the two were produced in a court on Tuesday and were remanded in nine-day police custody for interrogation.

Kuki organisations like ITLF and Committee on Tribal Unity on Tuesday claimed that the two arrested persons were detained while they joined a group of women protesting against construction of a new commando outpost at Chikim village in Moreh on Monday.  

Police on Monday night claimed they were arrested after they opened fire on a police patrol team in Moreh and tried to flee. Police said a pistol, a China-made hand grenade and some ammunition were recovered from them. 

Many in Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley staged protests demanding strict action against those involved in the killing. 

Co-Ordination Committee on Manipur Unity (COCOMI), a forum of Meitei organisations, in a statement claimed that Myanmar's Chin Kuki militants were involved in the attack on Manipur police. "The incident has brought light to a distressing lapse in the coordination between the state and central security forces," it said.

Troubled Moreh

Manipur has remained on the boil since the ethnic violence between the Meitei and the Kuki communities broke out in May last year. Nearly 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 others have been displaced in the violence. Moreh witnessed sporadic exchange of fire several times between Manipur police commandos and the armed Kuki men since the SDPO's killing. 

The Manipur government claims involvement of Kuki insurgents in the gunfight but Kuki groups say the "village volunteers" are engaged in the fight in order to defend the Kukis in and around Moreh from "attacks" by the Manipur police commandos. Tengnoupal is a Kuki-dominated district.