Tragic Developments in Manipur: Bodies Found, Multiple Individuals Reported Missing | Guwahati News – Times of India

A woman outside her house in Imphal West district that was damaged by suspected militants

The bodies of two elderly inmates of a camp for people displaced by the ethnic violence in Manipur’s Jiribam were found Tuesday – one with bullet wounds and the other charred – in the village where security forces gunned down 10 “armed militants” in a counteroffensive the previous day. It wasn’t immediately clear how the two were killed.
Three children and as many women from the same camp as the victims, identified as Laishram Biren Meitei (66) and Maibam Kesho Singh (77), were reported missing since the joint police-CRPF action in retaliation to a militant attack on two security posts attached to Jakuradhor and Borobekra police stations.
Two other inmates who had been unaccounted for following Monday’s melee were later reunited with their families, police said.
Volunteers died at hands of CRPF, claim tribal bodies
Organisations representing the tribal Kuki-Zo and Hmar communities contested the official version of what led to the purported reprisal by security forces, saying “village volunteers died at the hands of CRPF” and were passed off as “militants”. They also claimed 11 casualties in the firing.
“A very unfortunate thing happened…We try to restrain our armed force — that is the standard practice in almost every situation,” IGP I K Muivah said. “But when the force is fired upon with sophisticated weapons and rocket launchers, then retaliation is part of our mandate. In adhering to that mandate, 10 armed militants were killed.”
The IGP said a security personnel had fanned out into the interiors of the district to trace the missing women and children — Yurambam Rani (66); Laishram Heitombi (25) and her two children L Chingkheinganba (2) and L Lanngamba 10); Telem Thoibi (30), and T Thajanganbi (8).
All six are presumed to have fled the relief shelter to escape getting caught in the crossfire between the CRPF-police contingent and the slain “militants”. A picture circulating on social media shows the missing women and children in a forested area. Till late Tuesday, the administration wasn’t able to verify its authenticity.
Laishram Biren and Maibam Kesho, the two camp inmates found dead, were from Borobekra subdivision of Jiribam, where suspected militant attacks on civilians resumed last week after a lull. Kesho’s body was charred when a portion of the relief shelter in Borobekra, housing around 100 people, caught fire during Monday’s 45-minute gunfight.
Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) issued a statement declaring “non-cooperation” with CRPF and demanded that the paramilitary force be confined to designated camps until it apologised for killing “village volunteers”.
“CRPF personnel violating this notice shall proceed at their own risk and responsibility. This directive takes immediate effect upon issuance and remains enforced until CRPF publicly acknowledges their barbaric actions in Jiribam,” it said.
IGP Muivah said the arms and ammunition found beside the 10 “armed militants” were proof of what they were up to. “We seized AKs, four SLRs, two INSAS rifles, an RPG launcher and other weapons. Also, they were wearing fatigues. This shows they were there to cause a lot of violence.”
Thirteen groups declared a 24-hour shutdown in Jirabam from 6pm Tuesday, demanding security and steps to immediately trace the missing women and children. Kuki-Zo organisations enforced a dawn-to-dusk general strike over what they termed indiscriminate killings by security forces.
Elsewhere in Manipur, unidentified gunmen fired at three villages in Imphal East district. Late Monday, two people were wounded in a similar assault on Kangchup and Koutruk villages in Imphal West.