Guwahati: The security forces on Monday gunned down at least 11 suspected armed militants in a gunbattle in Jiribam district of Manipur. Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel also sustained injuries during the exchange of fire that took place at Jakurador Karong in Borobekra sub-division.
Saying that the condition of one of the personnel was critical, security sources said that earlier in the day, heavily armed rebels had torched several shops in the area. They had also attacked some houses and the CRPF camp, the sources said, adding that in retaliatory operation the gunbattle broke out.
Meanwhile, the Kuki Zo Council in a statement said that all those killed in the gunbattle in Jiribam were serving as village volunteers. Saying the loss of the Kuki Zo volunteers’ lives was not only a loss to their families but to the entire community, the Kuki Zo Council has announced a 12-hour bandh in Manipur on Tuesday.
In a similar attack, fresh firing restarted in the Saiton area under Kumbi police station in Bishnupur district in the early hours of Monday.
Saying that armed men from the hills in Kangpokpi district opened fire at Saiton area around 3 am, security sources said that while there was immediate retaliation from the local village volunteers, the security forces launched an operation shortly after pushing back the attackers.
Pointing out that Manipur was once again seeing violence, with ongoing clashes and fresh firing reported in the periphery areas since November 7, security sources said the violence has reignited fear among locals, as the security forces struggle to contain the escalating unrest in the region.
Security sources said that Kuki terrorists shot at and killed Sapam Ongbi Sonia Devi, a young married woman who was working in a paddy field on Monday. She was the wife of S Dayananda Singh of Kumbi Watha Lambi in Bishnupur district.
Another incident took place in the Yaingangpokpi area of Imphal East on Monday, injuring two people. They were harvesting paddy near Yaingangpokpi when suspected armed terrorists opened fire at approximately 9:20 am, security sources said.
These recent incidents have left residents on the edge, particularly in the districts of Jiribam, Kangpokpi, and Churachandpur, and Bishnupur which have been the focal points of violence in the past.
It is significant that armed extremists shot at, captured, and burnt down a tribal woman to death, along with torching at least a dozen houses in Jiribam district on November 7.
On November 9, a woman was killed after being hit by a bullet during firing by miscreants from the Churachandpur hills while she along with several others was working in paddy fields in Saiton, under the Kumbi police station in Bishnupur.
These incidents have come at a time when the Centre is making efforts to bring MLAs from both Meitei and Kuki communities on one platform to ensure return of complete normalcy in the state.
