Imphal, Nov 13 (PTI) Normal life was partially affected in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on Friday with the closure of markets and business establishments, as a tribal organisation observed a shutdown to protest against the killing of a woman in a gunfight between two rival groups a day ago.
Buses and autorickshaws remained off the roads, inconveniencing commuters.
Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) called the 48-hour shutdown from November 12 midnight, following the gunfight in the vicinity of Taphou Kuki village on Thursday morning.
The organisation, however, announced that educational institutions, medical and emergency services would be exempted from the purview of the bandh.
A COTU functionary demanded that all central and state security forces, particularly those operating under the command of the Senapati district SP, be withdrawn from Kangpokpi.
He alleged that security arrangements under the Senapati superintendent of police have “failed” to ensure the safety of people.
A 42-year-old Kuki woman was shot dead while two men sustained injuries when a gunfight broke out between rival groups in an area near Taphou Kuki village in Kangpokpi and Kailengjang in neighbouring Senapati district around 11 am on Thursday.
In Manipur, the ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023 between the valley-based Meitei and hill-based Kuki communities has claimed at least 306 lives, while 49 people remain missing and thousands have been left homeless.
At least 50 people have been killed in clashes between Kukis and Nagas in the hill districts since February this year. PTI CORR BDC
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