The bodies of an unclothed woman and a young girl stuffed into a gunny sack were found on Sunday in the Barak River in south Assam. The discovery comes just hours after mob violence erupted in neighboring Manipur over six corpses suspected to be of three women and three children reported missing from a relief camp in violence-hit Jiribam.
One body was recovered at Chirighat and the other at Singerband III, both in Assam's Cachar district. These findings have deepened the crisis, as Manipur saw a night of arson and attacks targeting the homes of 13 MLAs, including nine from the BJP, in the Imphal Valley. Violence reignited Sunday evening when a mob vandalized the ancestral home of BJP MLA Kongkham Robindro in Imphal West. His other residence in the district had been attacked a day earlier. The homes of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam, BJP MLAs Y. Radheshyam and Paonam Brojen, and Congress legislator Th. Lokeshwar were also vandalized or burned.
Police have arrested 23 individuals for ransacking and arson, seizing a pistol, ammunition, and mobile phones. Amid an indefinite curfew and internet ban in Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur districts, eight civilians were injured during the crackdown. The Army and Assam Rifles conducted flag marches in violence-affected areas as CRPF DG Anish Dayal Singh arrived in Imphal to oversee security measures.
In Jiribam, unrest began on November 7 when a tribal woman was allegedly raped and burned to death by armed intruders. On November 11, 10 Hmar militants were killed by the CRPF. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum reported the burning of five churches, a school, a fuel pump, and 14 Kuki-Zo homes late Saturday, adding to the escalating tension.
