GUWAHATI: In the continued gunbattles in Manipur, three persons were killed while four others were injured on Friday.
A gunfight erupted at a place between Awang Leikei in Meitei-majority Bishnupur and Kangvai in Kuki-majority Churachandpur districts around 1.30 am in which three persons – two from Churachandpur and one from Bishnupur – were killed and three others, all from Churachandpur, were injured. The injured were admitted to a hospital in Churachandpur.
The deceased included a teenager. He was killed after being hit by a bullet on the Imphal-Churachandpur highway in Bishnupur. The 19-year-old, who passed his higher secondary examination this year, was trying to take cover when the bullet hit him.
After his killing, hundreds of locals, mostly women and youth, hit the streets and vented their ire. The students of the school where he studied also staged a protest.
In the afternoon, another gunfight erupted in the same area. A person from Churachandpur was injured.
Meanwhile, a video has gone viral on social media showing one person being assaulted and another being fired upon by a group of unidentified persons. Local media reported both were killed two-three days ago. They were last seen on July 4 and they hailed from Kakching district in the Imphal valley.
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Thousands of women had staged a protest at the Sekmaijin Bazar bridge area on the outskirts of state capital Imphal on Thursday over the duo’s disappearance.
In Churachandpur, five CPI(M) MPs – Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, John Brittas, Santosh Kumar, Binay Vishwam and Subhrayam – visited two relief camps on Friday.
The leaders of Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum held a brief interaction with the MPs and submitted a memorandum to them. They are also likely to visit some relief camps in the Imphal valley.
Meanwhile, although the schools in the state reopened for classes 1-8 after two months on Wednesday, attendance in the violence-hit districts is very thin. Locals said parents were afraid of sending their wards to schools given the continued violence.
The ethnic clashes broke out on May 3 after a “tribal solidarity march” which was organised by a students’ organisation to oppose the move for the inclusion of majority Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list.
