3 dead as ambush ends Manipur's fragile peace

Armed men killed three village patrol guards in a Kuki-dominated village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district in the early hours of Friday, shattering the tenuous peace established over the last two weeks in the northeastern state that has been roiled by ethnic clashes for three months.

- Utpal Parashar and Prawesh Lama

 

State police said the killings occurred around 4.30am at Thouwai Kuki, a village inhabited by the Kuki tribal community around 47km from Ukhrul town, the headquarters of the district.

“According to our information, a group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident. There are no reports of any injuries,” said N Vashum, superintendent of police (SP), Ukhrul.

The village falls on the edge of the Naga-dominated Ukhrul district and the Meitei-dominated Imphal East district.

The three deceased were identified by the district administration as Thangkhokai Haokip, 35, Jamkhogin Haokip, 26, and Hollenson Baithe, 24.

Local residents said that the three men were on patrol duty at a bunker in a village where the 50 households took turns to volunteer as guards every night.

“This Kuki village has around 50-60 houses. Though there was no violence in the village for the last three months, a bunker was set up in the village as a security measure. The three villagers were guarding the village when the armed militants caught them by surprise and shot at them,” said David Paite, a resident of the village.

He said that the bodies bore stab marks. Baithe was a college student while the two other men were farmers.