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Manipur: Death toll in Tuesday’s CRPF firing rises to three
Injured protester dies in Imphal hospital as violence erupts after rocket attack kills two Meitei children in Bishnupur
A 31-year-old man died during treatment on Wednesday, a day after he was injured when security forces allegedly opened fire at people protesting the killing of two Meitei siblings on Tuesday, taking the death toll to three.
Wanghengbam Bobby, from Bishnupur district, was undergoing treatment at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal. He sustained a bullet injury to his torso, an officer said.
A suspected rocket strike killed a five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister in Bishnupur’s Tronglaobi in the early hours of Tuesday. Following this, people protested the killings, stormed a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp, vandalised it, and set vehicles on fire. Security forces allegedly opened fire on them.
State home minister Govindas Konthoujam said on Tuesday that two people were killed and at least 31 were injured as CRPF personnel controlled the mob.
The fresh flare-up in violence also prompted authorities to suspend internet and mobile data services in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching, and Bishnupur.
Chief minister N Biren Singh condemned the Tronglaobi attack and assured that the government would hunt down the perpetrators and deliver justice at the earliest. He said that the investigation into the attack will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Manipur BJP spokesperson Khongbantabam Ibomcha said on Wednesday that “three United Kuki National Army (UKNA) members were arrested with one AK-47 rifle and one pistol from their possession”. He added that the arrests were made during a military crackdown operation conducted in connection with the Tronglaobi incident.
The United Kuki National Army (UKNA) denied involvement in the Tronglaobi attack. “UKNA reiterates that its objective remains the pursuit of a just and honourable political solution within the framework of the Constitution of India. The organisation neither condones nor engages in violence against innocent civilians, particularly children, under any circumstances,” a statement said.
The statement further refuted the allegations that three of its members have been arrested in connection with the incident. “These claims are entirely baseless and false,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Manipur government conditionally lifted the temporary suspension of internet data for broadband services (ILL and FTTH).
The government order stated that, “the state government has reviewed the prevailing situation along with the inconveniences/sufferings of the common people, as the internet ban had affected the functioning of important offices/institutions, High Courts, district courts, a cohort of people working from home, chartered accountant firms, lawyers, health facilities, refuelling centres, recharging of electricity, mobile services, booking for LPG, educational institutions, taxation-related offices, and other online-based citizen-centric services, etc.”
