GUWAHATI: An Assam Rifles jawan in Manipur opened fire on his colleagues, injuring six of them, and then, shot self.
The incident was reported from a unit of the paramilitary force on Wednesday morning. The jawan joined his unit on January 20 after returning from leave. He hailed from the state.
The Assam Rifles authorities ordered a probe into the incident.
Manipur Police shared a statement of the Assam Rifles authorities on X, formerly Twitter.
“There has been an incident of firing by an Assam Rifles Jawan in an ASSAM RIFLES BATTALION deployed close to the Indo-Myanmar border in South Manipur. One Assam Rifles Jawan opened fire on his colleagues injuring six of them (all injured are non-Manipuris); later the individual shot himself. All injured have been evacuated to Military Hospital for further treatment and reported to be stable,” the statement said.
“In light of the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur, it is important to share the details of the incident transparently to dispel any potential rumours and avoid any speculation. This unfortunate incident should not be correlated with ongoing conflict, given the fact that none of the injured are from Manipur,” the statement further said.
It added that all Assam Rifles battalions have mixed class composition, including those belonging to various communities from Manipur. All personnel have been staying and operating together despite polarization of society to maintain peace and stability in Manipur.
The incident comes amid sporadic incidents of ethnic violence.
A three-member special team from the Ministry of Home Affairs arrived in the state on Monday to assess the prevailing situation. The team is led by Naga peace talks interlocutor AK Mishra. Mandeep Singh and Rajesh Kamble, both Joint Director of SIB, are the two other members.
The ethnic violence in the state, which broke out on May 3 last year, left some 200 people dead and 60,000 others displaced.