Manipur: Elderly Woman Among 4 Shot Dead, Inter-Group Rivalry Between Kuki Insurgents Suspected

Unidentified gunmen shot four people, including a 72-year-old woman, in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Monday, police said.

The ambush took place at around 2:00 PM today near Mongjang village, located 7 km from Churachandpur town, when the victims were travelling in a car, news agency PTI reported.

The killings are not linked to the ethnic tensions in the state, but are suspected to be an inter-group clash between Kuki insurgents. However, no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, NDTV reported.

According to another official in the Churachandpur district headquarters, preliminary reports suggest that the victims were shot dead from a point-blank range.

The deceased have been identified as Phalhing (72), Thenkhothang Haokip alias Thahpi (48), Seikhogin (34), and Lengouhao (35).

Police and additional security forces rushed to the area after the shooting incident. Over 12 empty shells were recovered from the spot.

Manipur MP Stopped From Visiting Peripheral Village

In another development in the northeastern state, Inner Manipur MP Akoijam Bimol Angomcha was not allowed to visit a Imphal Valley village by central forces. Following this, he accused the state of "establishing and nurturing an imaginary and unconstitutional line, the so-called 'buffer zone', in support of communal forces".

The MP said he wanted to make a visit to Phougakchou Ikhai, a peripheral area along the border of Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district and Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, on Sunday as it falls under his constituency.

"I, an elected Member of Lok Sabha, was stopped from visiting Phougakchou-Ikhai Makha Leikai Keithel (Bazar) in Bishnupur district, which falls within my parliamentary constituency (Inner Manipur) today, despite the heavy presence of security forces, including the Indian Army, in the area guarding the place," the MP said in a late night post on X.

He claimed that civilians belonging to other communities (such as Pangals) were allowed to travel through the same place.

"It speaks of the clandestine ways through which the state has been nurturing a communally founded division of Manipur, and drawing up and enforcing an imaginary and unconstitutional line, the so-called 'buffer zone', in support of communal forces in the state," the Congress MP added.