Ex-Indian Army soldier lynched to death after accidentally crossing a ‘buffer zone’ in Manipur
In yet another incident of violence a former Indian Army soldier was lynched to death after he accidentally crossed the buffer zone between the Meitei and Kuki areas in ethnic violence-hit Manipur late on Sunday night.
The body of Limkholal Mate, a former Havaldar in the Assam Regiment, was found in Sekmai, a Meitei-dominated area in the Imphal West district.
Security sources at Imphal said, “Mate a Kuki man was a resident of Motbung in Kangpokpi. We have information that he accidentally crossed the buffer zone and entered the Sekmai area last night... He was driving a car. Police recovered his body on Monday morning. It looks like he was lynched to death.”
It is significant that paramilitary forces have been posted between the Meitei and Kuki areas, also known as buffer zones, to prevent clashes between the two warring communities. Kukis live in the hill districts of Manipur while Meiteis in the Valley. People of the two communities have avoided entering each other’s area since the violence broke out in May 2023.
Meanwhile, Meitei organisations announced a "public shutdown" in Imphal Valley to step up pressure on the BJP government in the state to initiate action against the Kukis for the fresh violence since September 1.
The protestors also demanded that central government forces, more particularly the Assam Rifle should be removed from the state. A large number of school students who came on streets of Imphal to press for a shutdown demanded that if the Unified Command of security forces is set up, it must be under the command of the state government---a demand that the Manipur chief minister led delegation of the ruling alliance was also reiterating. The protestors also took out a march towards Raj Bhawan highlighting their demands. However, security forces didn’t allow them to move towards Rajbhawan.