Manipur: Three dead in insurgent attack; bomb blast near BJP MLA's house

The insurgents are believed to be from the Meitei community

After a brief lull, violence broke out in Manipur on Friday in which three Kuki villagers including a woman were killed and two others were injured in an attack at a village in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district.

Hours before this, a bomb exploded near the residence of a BJP MLA on Thursday night in Meitei-dominated Imphal West district.

Security officials said suspected armed miscreants belonging to the Meitei community disguised in Army fatigue fired from their automatic rifles at around 4am on Friday in Khoken village in Kangpokpi, which is close to the border with Imphal West district. Three died on the spot while two others received bullet wounds. Sources said CRPF personnel, who were carrying out combing operations, rushed to the village but the miscreants had already fled.

Also Read: 98 killed, 310 injured in Manipur ethnic violence

Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an organisation of the Kuki tribe, in a statement said the deceased have been identified as Jangpao Touthang, Khaimang Guite and Domkhohoi (woman). The woman was performing her early morning prayers, the forum said. The Kuki-Zo villagers, unsuspecting of the attackers’ true identity and assuming it was an Army combing operation, gave way but were instead met with automatic rifle fire, resulting in the tragic deaths, it said.

The incident took place at a time a combing operation by the Army and other security forces was underway in order to stop the violence and recover the weapons which were snatched during the riot since May 3. More than 100 people, belonging to both Kuki and Meitei communities have died while over 40,000 others have been displaced due to the clashes between the two communities.

Army and other security forces controlled the riot but sporadic incidents of firing and house burning have remained a concern for more than a month now.

On Thursday night at around 8.30pm, unidentified miscreants in a motorcycle threw a bomb in front of the gate of BJP MLA, Soraisam Kebi at Singjamei area in Imphal West, a Meitei-dominated district. There was no major harm in the explosion, police said

Violence after Shah's visit:

The violence has continued even after Home Minister Amit Shah's call for peace to both the communities and presence of nearly 34,000 security forces. Some leaders of both the communities, who separately met Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday, said that armed insurgents belonging to both the communities were involved in the sporadic incidents of violence which occurred after Shah's visit to Manipur between May 29 and June 1.

"This attack is yet another example of the utter disregard shown by the Meitei militants, separatist mobs, radicalized groups like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, and the Meitei-centric state government for the 15-day peace call made by Union Minister of Home, Mr. Amit Shah," ITLF statement said.

The BJP government in the state, however, has not yet made any official statement about the fresh violence on Thursday and Friday. Many heaved a sigh of relief as Manipur did not report any violence on Tuesday and Wednesday but the fresh violence became a worry again.