Guwahati/Imphal
In a first of its kind attack on outsiders amidst the ethnic clashes that first erupted on May 3, 2023, unidentified assailants killed one and injured two other labourers from Jharkhand after dragging them out of their rented accommodation at Uripok in Naoremthong, Imphal on Saturday. All the three are tribals from Jharkhand’s Godda district.
While 41-year-old Shree Ram Hangsada succumbed to his injuries, the two others namely Bittu Murmu (22) and Mitalal Soren (50) are recuperating in a private hospital.
The police said the motive behind the shooting appears to be extortion demand. There was an alleged extortion demand from the construction company for which these labourers worked, the police claimed. The police have launched a search operation to identify and apprehend the perpetrators while also seeking to ascertain the reason behind the shooting.
Elsewhere, in an incident that could have been a major tragedy and disaster and fuelled more tension with its damaging spillover effect in the State, the Army and Assam Rifles rescued 75 Meira Paibis (Meitei women activists) from an attack by suspected Kuki militants after a two-hour gunfight that started around 10.30 pm on Friday. This was the first major gunfight in nearly three weeks.
Assam Rifles tweeted saying, “The Army and Assam Rifles safely led the rescue and evacuation of around 75 Meirapaibis during an attack by armed miscreants. The Security Forces repelled the misadventurism by bringing down heavy fire and saving lives of villagers in Uyok. The Indian Army & Assam Rifles continue staying steadfast in their resolve to bring normalcy in Manipur and maintaining law & order.”
The Meira Paibis were guarding their villages on the road in the buffer zone when the movement of militants in the foothills were detected. The militants had reached within 500 meters of the women.
Sensing the grave danger the 75 Meira Paibis were in, security forces blew a hooter to deter them, but that did not yield the desired result as they kept advancing even while firing towards the villages and women. The village volunteers from Meitei villages returned fire, resulting in a gunfight even as the 75 unarmed women guards got trapped in between.
Security forces the moved and reached the ground amid the crossfire, fired 81 mm mortars towards the foothills and chased back the armed groups back into the valley. In the meantime, the forces worked with village heads to create a safe route for the women.
The Assam Rifles posted visual of two soldiers firing a mortar at the suspected insurgents indicating the intensity of the attack that needed to be thwarted.
Over a year since the violence erupted, 220 persons have died, hundreds injured and thousands displaced.
