Imphal: A Kuki woman was shot dead while two men sustained injuries when suspected militants engaged in a gunfight in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district Thursday, officials said.
The gunfight broke out between rival militant groups in an area near Taphou Kuki village in Kangpokpi district and Kailengjang in neighbouring Senapati district around 11 am.
Following the exchange of fire, a woman from Taphou Kuki village, who was working in a nearby field, was found shot dead.
The deceased has been identified as K Chongloi (42).
She was found holding a sickle in her hand as she lay dead.
Her body has been recovered by locals and security forces.
Two men, identified as S David Chongloi and Lamkhochon Chongloi, sustained injuries during the firing. They were both taken to hospitals in Kangpokpi district.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen has called for “a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation” into the incident.
In a statement, Kipgen strongly condemned the killing of the woman and termed it a “heinous act of violence” which is “an affront to human dignity.”
Following the incident, security personnel conducted search operations at nearby Oname Taphou in Senapati district.
Locals, mostly women, tried to prevent the security forces from approaching the village.
The incident took place amid protests by the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), which organised a sit-in demonstration at the district headquarters over what it described as an “unsatisfactory response to the organisation’s charter of demands” following the recent abduction and killing of two Kuki-Zo civilians from Taphou Kuki village.
COTU has demanded that Taphou Kuki village be brought under the jurisdiction of Kangpokpi district police instead of the present Senapati district police station.
Two Kuki youths who went missing from the vicinity of Taphou Kuki village October 28 were found dead in neighbouring Senapati district November 1.
Their killing had prompted COTU to call a “total shutdown” in Kangpokpi district.
Manipur Police ADGP (Law and Order) Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo said Tuesday that the state government was considering transferring the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
“A proposal to transfer the case to the NIA by the government of Manipur is at an advanced stage, and necessary orders are awaited,” he had said.
On Tuesday, Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh had visited Taphou Kuki village and met the family members of the two deceased youths.
He assured them of the government’s full support during the difficult time.
In another firing incident near Sinakeithei in Ukhrul district, a man was injured when suspected militants fired at a group of farmers while they were harvesting their paddy fields.
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