1 week Ago By Prabin Kalita
Arms and ammunition found during the counter-offensive by forces against suspected militants in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Monday Security forces gunned down 10 “armed militants” in Manipur’s Jiribam district Monday in swift retaliation to two CRPF posts coming under attack around 3pm, capping days of attacks by suspected tribal gunmen on civilian targets in one of the flashpoints of the ethnic strife. Sanjeev Kumar, a CRPF constable wounded in the militant assault, was airlifted to Silchar Medical College in neighbouring Assam, while two civilians were “unaccounted for” after the tumult of gunfire from both sides, sources said. Manipur Police, which joined CRPF in the largest counter-offensive against suspected militants in recent months, said three Kalashnikov rifles, four SLRs, two INSAS rifles, an RPG, a pump-action gun, bullet-proof helmets, and magazines were found beside the bodies of the militants.
The tribal Kuki-Zo council disputed the number of casualties cited by police, saying “about 11 village volunteers died at the hands of CRPF personnel”. It declared a total shutdown in the area from 5am to 6pm Tuesday “in honour of the victims and to express our collective grief and solidarity for those who were brutally shot dead”. Hmar Students’ Association, too, denounced what it alleged was “the brutal murder of 11 Hmar village volunteers”.
The 11 were captured, herded together, shot: Hmar student outfit A security mop-up was underway till late Monday in the vicinity of Jakuradhor and Borobekra police stations, to which the CRPF posts were attached. Reinforcements from the Assam Rifles, CRPF and police have been dispatched to the site, officials said. The Hmar association said the “11 village volunteers” killed in the CRPF-police offensive were from Jakhradawr in Jiribam.
“They were captured, herded together and murdered by combined forces under the influence of Meitei militants. This premeditated massacre of Hmar village volunteers who were protecting their villages is an alarming escalation in the ongoing conflict in Manipur, specifically targeting the Hmar community.” The statement demanded a CBI investigation and immediate withdrawal of CRPF and Manipur Police from the area.
The administration clamped prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS in the district. Last Thursday, a 31-year-old tribal woman was allegedly raped by armed intruders and burned alive in her home in Zairon Hmar village of Jiribam. Two days later, a woman working in a paddy field was gunned down in neighbouring Bishnupur district.
Suspected militants again attacked farmers in Imphal East Sunday. Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic violence since May 2023, with the official casualty count at over 230. (With inputs from Delhi).
