Guwahati: Involvement of the insurgent group Hmar People’s Convention-Democracy (HPC-D) cannot be ruled out in the case of six Meiteis reported missing earlier this week from Jiribam’s Borobekra relief camp housing internally displaced persons, security sources told ThePrint. Three bodies, those of a woman and two children, were recovered Friday evening at the confluence of Jiri and Barak rivers in Jirimukh village of Manipur’s Jiribam. The police suspect the dead were from among six members of the Meitei family.
Earlier, the six missing individuals were identified as Yurembham Rani Devi (61), her daughter Telam Thoibi Devi (31) and her eight-year-old daughter, Yurembham’s other daughter Laishram Heitombi Devi (25) and her two sons, an infant aged eight months and a toddler, a little over two years old. The remaining three family members including the grandmother, another of her two daughters and a grandchild are still missing. Manipur police and central security forces have not been able to ascertain if they are still alive.
The entire family was allegedly whisked away by a group of armed men from the relief camp four days ago.
Speaking to ThePrint Saturday, Assam Director General of Police G.P. Singh confirmed that three bodies had been received at the Silchar Medical College & Hospital for postmortem, and that their identities could be best established by the Manipur Police.
ThePrint reached the Superintendent of Police in Jiribam, Kh. Robinson, over phone for a statement. This report will be updated when a response is received.
As news of the recovery of the bodies reached Imphal, tension spread in the valley with angry locals storming residences of legislators, and some resorting to arson. To prevent further disruption of law and order, the state government has announced a total curfew in the districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur and Thoubal under Section 163 BNSS. The chief secretary Saturday evening also ordered suspension of internet services in seven districts for two days. These include the hills districts of Kangpokpi and Churachandpur.
Earlier, on 11 November, after reports of attacks on houses and shops in Jakuradhor Karong area allegedly by armed Hmar men, and subsequent targeted attacks at the CRPF post in the area and Borobekra police station, 10 suspected Hmar ‘militants’ were killed in “retaliatory attack” by security forces.
Probes into at least three incidents in Jiribam, including the exchange between security personnel and ‘militants’, have been taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A CRPF constable was reportedly wounded in gunfire and sent to Silchar for medical treatment. Later, during a combing operation in the area, security personnel recovered arms and ammunition including three AK rifles, four self-loading rifles, two INSAS rifles, one rocket-propelled grenade, one pump-action gun and other objectionable items.
After the attack on 11 November, at least 13 shelter inmates were found missing, of which three were rescued from Guakhal area by the police and Assam Rifles. In further search at Jakuradhor village, which was burnt down by miscreants, two bodies of Meitei men were recovered. They were identified as senior citizens who had been staying at the relief camp.
Another case taken over by NIA is the killing of a Hmar woman on 7 November. A teacher and a mother of three, she was allegedly raped and burnt to death at her residence in Jairolpokpi (Zairawn) under Jiribam district by unidentified armed persons.
Also Read: No intel on ‘abducted’ Meitei women & children yet, says Manipur Police. Search ops underway
Who are HPC-Democracy
The rebel outfit Hmar People’s Convention-Democracy (HPC-D), formed in 1995, is an offshoot of the Hmar People’s Convention (HPC), a political party that had been spearheading a movement for self-governance in the north and northeast of Mizoram.
The HPC-D later started fighting for an Independent Hmar State (Hmar ram) consisting of the Hmar inhabited areas of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.
The outfit is primarily said to be active in Mizoram’s Saitual district, in the Hmar inhabited areas of Churachandpur district in Manipur, and Assam’s Cachar and North Cachar Hills districts. Churachandpur is connected to Saitual through NH-06.
A section of HPC party leaders had taken up arms between 1989 and 1994, demanding an autonomous district council to be carved out from the Hmar-dominated areas in the north-eastern part of Mizoram adjoining Manipur. The rebel outfit signed a peace accord with the erstwhile Congress government in 1994, which resulted in the birth of a development council for the Hmar people in north Mizoram, called the Sinlung Hills Development Council.
Unhappy with the development council, the HPC-D continued the insurgent movement till it signed an accord with the Mizoram government in April 2018. This followed the formation of the Sinlung Hills Council (SHC), covering three assembly constituencies of Mizoram in the districts bordering Assam and Manipur.
Security sources added that the group earlier had a cadre strength of about 250 cadres.
Sources also said that the HPC-D had been collecting huge extortion money from Mizo villagers along the Mizoram-Manipur border, and was also allegedly found threatening candidates during elections in Mizoram.
HPC-D has in the past aligned with several insurgent groups active in the Northeast including National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), which allegedly provided arms and training to the outfit in its formative years. It reportedly also carried out attacks with support of the Manipur-based insurgent outfit People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In May 2001, the HPC-D joined the Indigenous People’s Revolutionary Alliance—a platform of Zo ethnic militant groups including the Zomi Reunification Organisation (ZRO), two factions of the Kuki National Front, and the Kuki National Army (KNA). However, in 2004, clashes were reported between the HPC-D and the ZRA, armed wing of the ZRO, in Manipur’s Churachandpur district which led to the signing of a “truce agreement” between both outfits in April that year at an unspecified location in Manipur.
Over the years, HPC-D militants gained access to sophisticated arms like AK series rifles and explosives. Earlier, access to such sophisticated arms was limited.
Sources also said that an anti-talk HPC Democratic Presidents’ faction with a cadre strength of about 20 cadres continue to remain active in parts of Manipur and Mizoram. The chairman of the outfit, Lalminthan Sanate, was arrested by Cachar police and Assam Rifles in December 2022.
Meanwhile, area domination exercises continue in and around Jakuradhor under Borobekra police station in Jiribam district to flush out armed militants.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: 10 ‘militants’ killed in clash with CRPF in Manipur. Kuki groups call for shutdown in solidarity
The Kuki-Zo-Hmar people are from Myanmar. Due to instability and continued strife in Myanmar coupled with severe economic distress, they took advantage of the porous Indo-Myanmar border and illegally immigrated to India. Over the decades, they have settled down on thousands of acres of forest and remote hilly tracts in Manipur.
The various Christian churches also encourage and abet auch illegal immigration across the border and assist the Kuki-Zo-Hmar to settle down on Indian land. They are the kingpins of the immensely lucrative cross border narcotics and human trafficking.
This conflict was inevitable. The Indian forces must seal the Indo-Myanmar border. Action must be initiated against all illegal immigrants in Manipur and they must be deported to Myanmar.