Unidentified militants shot dead a Manipur Police sub-inspector and injured two other civilians in Churachandpur district on Wednesday afternoon, officials said, bringing the toll in the strife-torn state to 169.
Ongmang Haokip, a sub-inspector in Manipur Police posted at Chingphei, was killed by a bullet to the head around 1.30pm on Wednesday, said a senior police official on the condition of anonymity. Two civilians were also injured in shots fired by miscreants in the Kuki-dominated district. The identity of the two people were not available till the filing this report.
“One of our officers died in the incident. He was posted in Churachandpur. We are probing the incident,” the district’s superintendent of police (SP) Kartik Malladi said.
The Manipur Police in an official statement condemned the “dastardly attack”.
“A sub-Inspector of Manipur Police namely, Onkhomang Haokip (35)... was martyred in a firing incident... at Chingphei village under Moirang PS. Manipur Police strongly condemns this dastardly attack. His last rites will be performed tomorrow[Thursday] at Churachandpur in a befitting manner,” the official statement said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer said that Haokip was killed and the two civilians injured in firing “from a distance”.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer said that Haokip was killed and the two civilians injured in firing “from a distance”.
{{/usCountry}}The incident came a day after three persons, all Kukis, were waylaid by a group of armed men and killed in Kangpokpi, another Kuki-dominated district. In all, seven people have been killed in violence in September, the fifth consecutive month that clashes have roiled the northeastern state.
Haokip, 35, was earlier posted in Moirang police station but came to Churachandpur when clashes broke out between Kuki and Meitei communities on May 3, his family said.
Lamboi, Haokip’s brother in law said Haokip had saved people from a mob in Moirang on May 3. “The following day Haokip and his colleague (another sub inspector) were attacked by a mob who damaged their vehicle. He then fled Moirang and came to Churachandpur. Haokip was an honest police officer, who did not even have his own house and lived on rent. Recently he had got a police quarter allotted to him. The government should ensure that the killers are arrested and justice is delivered at the earliest.”
Haokip was posted in the reserve team of the Churachandpur police station, an officer said. A resident of Tuiboing, he is survived by his wife and four children.
His friends said Haokip was hit by a bullet. “ He feared for his life and had not gone to Moirang after clashes broke out. Locals have told us that a sniper shot him,” said Kennedy, a childhood friend who was identified by his first name.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a Kuki umbrella group, condemned the incident.
“The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum condemns the despicable murder of a policeman who was on duty to maintain peace in the buffer zone,”
Manipur has been rocked by ethnic clashes between Meitei and tribal Kuki communities since May 3. The violence, including Wednesday’s incident, has claimed 169 lives and displaced over 50,000 people.