Guwahati: An India Reserve Battalion (IRB) jawan and another person were killed Monday after being waylaid by suspected insurgents in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, local and security sources said.
The deceased, identified as Henminlen Vaiphei from Leimakhong Mission Veng village and Thangminlun Hangsing, were from Leimakhong Mission Veng and Hunkho Kuki villages in Imphal West district. Both the deceased were unarmed, they said.
Vaiphei was serving as a rifleman in the 6th India Reserve Battalion (IRB) stationed at Leimakhong, a security officer said, adding he was “not on duty” and travelling in a civilian vehicle when the “shocking” incident took place.
The two individuals belonging to the Kuki-Zo community were waylaid by suspected cadres of a Valley Based Insurgent Group (VBIG) in a hilly area along the Kangpokpi-Churachandpur road around 10 am, the sources said.
Security sources said the road connecting these villages, where the killing took place, had gained significance since the beginning of the Manipur ethnic conflict in May. The road is being used as an internal route by local residents travelling between Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts, they added.
The road leads to other Kuki settlements and is also close to areas such as Haraouthel and Koutruk villages, inhabited by both Kukis and Meiteis. The forested areas of Kangpokpi has a significant presence of both state and central forces, including the Assam Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force.
In its press statement, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur, mentioned that the attack occurred in the same area where three Kuki-Zo tribals were killed in an ambush in September.
“A team of volunteers were out repairing the Lamka-Kangpokpi road, which had suffered considerable damage due to the recent spell of rainfall. The victims had just dropped off their friends at a designated point and were trying to head back to Leimakhong when they were ambushed,” the release stated.
The attack occurred a mere 50 metre from where they had left their friends, it said. “Since the victims and their friends were all unarmed, they were unable to defend themselves.”
Condemning the attacks, the ITLF again urged the central government to provide the Kuki-Zo community with “a political solution, which does not involve living under the yoke of a Meitei-controlled government”.
Meanwhile, the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), a civil society organisation, has condemned the “unprovoked attack” at Haraothel and Kobsha villages in Kangpokpi district. The CoTU has declared an emergency shutdown in the district to convey to the Union government that they are “no longer safe”. The Kuki-Zo organisation also raised the issue of a “separate administration”.
Stating that “political separation is the only solution left now, the CoTU mentioned that the series of unfortunate incidents could have been avoided “if the repeated appeals from the Kuki-Zo community had been heard by the Union Home Ministry”.
On Friday, 10 like-minded opposition parties, including the AAP, the TMC, the CPI, the CPI(M), the Congress, the JD(U), and the NCP, had submitted a memorandum to Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey, requesting to facilitate a meeting of all political parties in Manipur with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to find a solution to the ongoing conflict.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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