GUWAHATI: In an exchange of gunfire between two ethnic groups at least three men belonging to the Kuki community were killed in an exchange of gunfire between unidentified armed groups in Manipur’s Noney district.
Police on Sunday said that the incident occurred at Kekru Naga village under Nungba police station. The deceased have been identified as Thanglensang Singson, Thangkhosei Haokip and Lamminsang Kipgen, all residents of villages in Churachandpur district. Police described them as village volunteers.
Security forces recovered four automatic assault rifles, a single-barrel rifle, a drone, ammunition and improvised explosives from the site. Sporadic gunfire between groups suspected to be from the Naga and Kuki communities had been reported in the area since October 29, officials said. Security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order.
A top Kuki tribal body, Kuki Inpi Manipur, blamed Naga separatist outfits, including the NSCN-IM and Zeliangrong United Front-Kamson, for the killings, calling them a “direct unprovoked assault” in their homeland.
The deaths came amid mass protests in the state capital Imphal and other areas, where hundreds of thousands demanded the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) ceasefire arrangement between Kuki armed groups and the government.
Police later confirmed that the bodies of two other Kuki men, who had gone missing earlier in the week from Taphou Kuki village, were recovered in Kangpokpi district on Sunday morning following a search operation, bringing the toll in the latest incidents to five.
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