GUWAHATI: The India-Myanmar border town of Moreh in Manipur’s Kuki-majority Tengnoupal district has remained on the boil since Saturday afternoon amid intermittent gunfights between armed miscreants and police commandos.
The authorities reimposed curfew while a high alert has been sounded. Tengnoupal is one of the districts affected by the ethnic violence between Kukis and Meiteis.
Fresh violence broke out on Saturday at around 3:45 pm when the armed miscreants ambushed a team of police commandos, leaving one injured. The attack had ensued a gunfight which continued till 5:30 pm.
“Rifleman G Ponkhamlung of 5th India Reserve Battalion was injured in his right thigh by a splinter during the ambush by unknown armed miscreants at Moreh in the Tengnoupal district,” Manipur police said.
The injured commando was evacuated to an Assam Rifles camp and later, reportedly shifted to a hospital in the state capital Imphal.
Sources said around midnight on Saturday, the miscreants carried out another attack. They fired rocket-propelled grenades directed at police barracks. This ensued another gunfight.
The police said four commandos were aurally affected by the sound of the explosions.
“Fresh firing started at around 5 pm today (Sunday). There is no report of casualty so far,” a police officer told this newspaper at around 6 pm requesting anonymity.
According to him, the situation is tense and the police and security forces are on high alert.
The ‘Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum’ alleged the police fired indiscriminately and burned down three houses at a Kuki settlement on Saturday. Another tribal body ‘Kuki Inpi, Sadar Hills’ demanded a probe into the incident of arson.
The “Forum for Restoration of Peace in Manipur” voiced deep concerns over the ongoing violence. It lamented that the violence continued despite appeals for peace. It proposed the formation of a “Truth and Reconciliation” committee to mediate and foster reconciliation.
The ethnic violence, which broke out on May 3, left some 200 people dead and 60,000 others displaced so far.