Guwahati: The relatives of four missing persons from Bolkot village in Manipur’s Churachandpur district anxiously await news, clinging to the faint hope that they might still be alive.
The four middle-aged Kuki-Zo civilians, currently considered “missing” after being allegedly abducted by armed miscreants from Kangchup Chingkhong village in Kangpokpi district Tuesday, are said to be related to a serving soldier in the Indian Army, local sources told ThePrint, adding that the relatives of the missing persons are “traumatised”.
The incident of abduction sparked a gunfight between members of the warring Kuki and Meitei communities, resulting in injuries to at least nine individuals, including Meitei village defense volunteers and two Manipur Police Commandos. The exchange of fire between the armed village defence groups in the Kangchup foothills of Imphal West district continued for nearly three hours — from 11.30 am to about 2 pm — local sources said.
The four civilians — including two women — were reportedly abducted near Kangchup Chingkhong while traveling from Bolkot to L Phaijang in Churachandpur, said a statement released by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a civil society organisation of Kuki-Zo tribes. The ITLF alleged they were abducted by the armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol.
An ITLF leader told ThePrint that the family was travelling to attend a marriage ceremony in Churachandpur, but “accidentally” landed in a Meitei area in Kangpokpi district, probably having lost their way. They might have taken an internal route connecting Churachandpur to Kangpokpi instead of the main road, the ITLF leader explained.
Manipur Police, in a post on X late Tuesday evening, confirmed the incident and said that security forces are actively working to “locate the missing individuals and rescue them”.
On 07.11.2023, at Kangchup Chingkhong, a Bolero carrying five individuals(2 women and 3 men) en-route from Churachandpur to Leimakhong was confronted by an enraged mob. The mob forcibly took away four of them, while one escaped. One person from the group was later rescued by…
— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) November 7, 2023
While there were five persons in the Bolero car they were travelling in, including the driver, one person was rescued by security forces in critical state, local and defence sources revealed.
The injured senior citizen, identified as 65-year-old Manglun Haokip from Bolkot and said to be the father of the serving jawan, was rushed to the Leimakhong military hospital, from where he was evacuated to Dimapur, Nagaland, for further treatment.
“Thinking him (Manglun Haokip) to be dead, he was left behind. CRPF personnel later found him and transported him to Leimakhong. Due to the severity of his injuries, he has been airlifted to a neighbouring state,” the ITLF release stated.
Six months since the fighting in Manipur started, the state continues to bleed. The ethnic conflict has led to deaths, injuries and displacement of thousands of civilians.
According to local sources, the incident happened early in the morning when a crowd proceeded from Kangchup Chingkhong and overturned the vehicle carrying the five Kuki-Zo passengers near a security checkpoint in the area. Soon after, “angry tribal volunteers near the frontline fired at the Meitei side,” which led to a firefight, stated ITLF in its press release Tuesday evening.
Civilian sources added that the wounded few, most of them with bullet injuries, have been shifted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and Raj Medicity hospitals in Imphal.
The ITLF, meanwhile, has urged the central security forces to launch an operation to rescue the missing civilians, stating it is feared “they may have been killed or are being tortured”.
“Efforts are on at all level to trace the missing civilians,” a defence personnel said.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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