One dead in clashes among Manipur village volunteers

One person killed, three injured in gunfight between armed groups in Manipur's Kangpokpi district. Ethnic violence continues in the state.

One person was killed and three others were injured in a gunfight between armed groups in Kangpokpi district of strife-torn Manipur early on Sunday, officials said.

Manipur has been in the throes of a violent conflict for nearly a year. (ANI)

Dozens of gunmen attacked Koutruk in Imphal West district on Sunday morning from elevated hilltops of neighbouring Kangpokpi district prompting village volunteers deployed in the fringe village to retaliate, the police said.

The exchange of fire gradually spread to adjacent villages of Kadangband and Senjam Chirang, they said.

Koutruk village has been witness to intense gunfights between village volunteers of two warring communities since ethnic violence broke out on May 3 last year. It has been identified as one of the most vulnerable areas for gun attacks.

The deceased was identified as Lammang Kipgen (44), a Kuki village volunteer. There was no clarity on the identities of the three injured.

Denouncing the killing, the Kangpokpi district-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) has called for a 12-hour shutdown in the district.

The gunfight came a day after a sub-inspector and a head constable were killed in an attack on a post of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the state’s Bishnupur district of strife-torn Manipur early on Saturday morning, in the first such targeting of a central force in almost a year.

Over a dozen unidentified attackers first hurled grenades at the CRPF post shortly after midnight, and followed it up with a barrage of bullets, in what officials said was a “pre-meditated attack”.

Manipur has been in the throes of a violent conflict for nearly a year. What began as an ethnic conflict on May 3 last year between the majority Meiteis who reside in Imphal valley and the tribal Kukis, has grown into seemingly irreconcilable cleavages within Manipuri society. More than 220 people have been killed and 50,000 people displaced, while armed militia prowl the streets.

(With agency inputs)