GUWAHATI: After a lull of three days, fresh gunfights erupted at two places across Manipur on Sunday.
The violence first broke out on the border of the Bishnupur-Churachandpur districts in the morning.
Senior police officials were not available for comment but locals feared casualties. Some houses were also torched. Security forces, deployed in the area, brought the situation under control.
Later in the day, another gunbattle occurred on the border of Imphal West and Kangpokpi districts. Casualties, if any, were not known.
Meanwhile, the police arrested four persons in connection with the killing of a Naga woman, Lucy Marem, in the Imphal East district on Saturday evening. The assailants had allegedly also disfigured her face.
The victim was reportedly suffering from schizophrenia.
Before this incident, the Nagas, the third major community of Manipur, were unaffected by the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis.
The United Naga Council (UNC) condemned the killing, stating that the innocent woman was murdered despite her assailants knowing that she was a Naga.
It demanded that the state government immediately constitute a judicial inquiry committee, arrest all perpetrators of the crime, including the members of a women’s group who had allegedly apprehended the victim and handed her over to armed men, and award exemplary punishment to the culprits.
The organisation warned, “In the event of not fulfilling our demands within 48 hours, further course of action will be initiated.”
Further, the UNC said, “The Meitei civil society organizations will be equally held responsible for this despicable act. Hence, their role and position must be made known to all concerned.”
It said a 12-hour “total shutdown” would be observed in all Naga areas of Manipur from 6 am to 6 pm on Monday as a mark of resentment for the woman’s murder and to pay tribute to her.
This is the second such killing of a woman. On July 6, a Kuki woman was shot dead by an unidentified gunman on the outskirts of Imphal.
Meanwhile, the Committee on Tribal Unity has called for a 72-hour “total shutdown” of National Highway 2 – Manipur’s lifeline – in protest against Saturday’s torching of three LPG cylinders-laden trucks in Imphal West district and Sunday’s arson attack at a village.