GUWAHATI: Three Meitei women and as many children from the same community have been missing from restive Manipur’s Jiribam since Monday’s gunfight in which 10 Kuki ‘militants’ were gunned down by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the police.
In Imphal, 13 organisations jointly announced a 24-hour total shutdown in the Imphal valley from 6 pm of Tuesday seeking government intervention to secure the release of the six individuals.
Talking about the Jiribam gunfight, Inspector General of Police I K Muivah said armed miscreants had attacked the Borobekra police station and also at a nearby CRPF camp at Jakuradhor on Monday afternoon. “The militants were using RPGs and other sophisticated weapons such as AK, INSAS, SLRs. A CRPF jawan was injured in the attack and evacuated to Assam for treatment,” Muivah said.
The CRPF retaliated and the firing stopped after about 45 minutes. “About 10 militants were found dead. Two elderly persons were found burned to death while three women and three minor children were found missing,” the IGP said, adding the police are trying to trace the six missing persons. The two elderly persons were from the Meitei community.
Protesting the “inhumane actions” of CRPF in Jiribam, the Kuki Students’ Organisation issued a “notice” stating that “no CRPF personnel shall be allowed to leave their camp premises.” It demanded a thorough and court-monitored probe into the “fake encounter”.
Kuki fiat
No CRPF personnel shall be allowed to leave their camp premises till they apologise, a Kuki student outfit said