MANIPUR ON THE BOIL YET AGAIN

NO LET-UP | Mob attacks houses of MLAs, ministers in protest over slaying of six

- Digjyoti Lahkar

There was palpable tension in Manipur on Saturday with residents in Imphal hitting the streets to protest against the brutal slaying of six abducted persons on the Assam-Manipur border.

The deceased included an 8-month-old infant, minors and women from the Meitei community, who were taken hostage by suspected Kuki insurgents from Jiribam district in neighbouring Assam.

Manipur has witnessed ethnic strife for more than a year between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community. The conflict has simmered since then.

Asked to retrieve the situation, security forces fired tear gas shells and blank shots to disperse an unruly mob which had converged outside the residences of MLAs, mostly belonging to the Meitei community.