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22-year-old man shot dead as fresh violence hits Manipur: Police
Police have identified the victim as Muansang, a resident of Chandrapur’s Songtal village who belongs to the Kuki tribe
A 22-year-old man was shot dead in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Monday as the area witnessed fresh bout of ethnic violence that has claimed over 100 lives in the state since May 3, officials familiar with the matter said.
Police have identified the victim as Muansang, a resident of Chandrapur’s Songtal village who belongs to the Kuki tribe. The incident took place around 2.35 pm when the victim came to meet his friends in the nearby Loklakphai village and he was shot at by unidentified people.
“Muansang left his village due to relaxation of curfew hours during the day. He was waiting for his friends near the banks of the Tuitha river when someone shot at him from across the river... It is unclear who fired the shot... His autopsy is yet to be conducted but it looks like he has one bullet wound. His body is at the district hospital,” an officer familiar with the investigation said on condition of anonymity. At least 106 people have died and another 40,000 displaced in the ethnic violence between the tribal Kukis, who mostly reside in the hill districts, and the Meiteis, the dominant community in Imphal Valley.
On June 9, the Central Bureau of Investigation re-registered six FIRs and set up a Special Investigation Team to look into “criminal conspiracy” in connection with the violence.
Meanwhile, Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of Kuki groups in Churachandpur district, has alleged that Maunsang died in a targeted attack on a day when governor Anusuiya Uikey visited relief camps in the district.
