Guwahati: In a fresh incident of violence in trouble-torn Manipur, at least three people were found killed after heavy gunfire at Kuki Thowai village in Tangkhul Naga-dominated Ukhrul district on Friday morning.
Police said that the incident took place at about 4.30 am in a Kuki village.
Informing that heavy gunfire broke out at Kuki Thowai village under the Litan police station in Ukhrul district, security sources said that villagers reported that there was heavy gunfire heard from the village.
Pointing out that after the firing stopped, three villagers went missing, security sources said that when the police carried out a thorough search in the area including the villages and the nearby forests, badly mutilated bodies of the three missing youths were recovered.
The victims have been identified as Jamkhogin Haokip (26), Thangkhokai Haokip (35) and Hollenson Baite (24). Security sources said that their bodies had injury marks of sharp weapons, and their limbs were chopped off.
Ukhrul SP Ningshem Vashum told reporters that the three were reportedly village guards entrusted with guarding the village.
“The incident is obviously related to the ongoing ethnic problem in the state. Some armed miscreants entered the village and these three people who were guarding the village were shot. The firing has stopped in the area now and security forces comprising the Army and police have moved into the area,” he said.
It is significant that village Kuki Thowai comes under the Ukhrul district which has not seen violence in the ongoing clashes between the state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zomi communities.
In the ongoing ethnic violence that has engulfed the state since May 3 was largely restricted t a safeo Meitei-dominated Bishnupur, Imphal West, Imphal East and Kakching and Kuki-Zomi-dominated Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts.
The state’s Naga community has been maintaining a safe distance from the ongoing conflict as its MLAs and civil society leaders have emphasised that they must be consulted in case of any political settlement of the issue and that any plan of granting separate administration to Kuki-Zomi territories should not affect Naga territories.
Earlier this week, during the Independence day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the situation in the northeast state, which has been hit by ethnic violence, was improving and asserted that solution to its problems can be found only through peace. "The nation is with Manipur," he said.
