GUWAHATI: Three men, both reportedly from the Meitei community, were killed by suspected militants in Manipur on Monday morning, and a mob placed the bodies right outside the Chief Minister’s official bungalow in Imphal’s Babupara area in protest.
Police personnel deployed at the site quickly dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas shells. The personnel then retrieved the bodies and transported them to a hospital.
It was not immediately known if Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh was at his residence at that time.
Four others were also injured in the militant attack, which was perpetrated at a place near the border of Meitei-majority Imphal East and Kuki-majority Kangpokpi districts.
According to reports, 16 people had gone towards the hills to collect firewood when they were ambushed by the militants. Apart from those killed and injured, three others were reported missing.
One of the injured persons said they had come under attack when they were loading firewood onto a vehicle.
The last major incident affecting the Meitei community had taken place on April 7 this year, when two children — one aged five years and another barely five months old — were killed in a bomb attack by suspected militants at their house in Tronglaobi in Bishnupur district.
Over the past few months, Kukis and Nagas have found themselves caught in a conflict with each other, during which dozens of lives were lost, while many houses were torched.