Police commando killed in gunfight in ethnic violence-hit Manipur

The gunfight was triggered after a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on a security forces camp in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s border town of Moreh

A police commando was killed in a gunfight triggered after a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on a security forces camp in ethnic violence-hit Manipur’s border town of Moreh on Tuesday morning, people aware of the matter said.

At least 200 people have been killed and over 50,000 people displaced since the beginning of the ethnic violence last year. (PTI)

“The Manipur Police commandos were inside their camp in Moreh town when gunmen first fired an RPG and then followed it with heavy gunfire. While one commando [identified as W Somorjit] died, another has sustained injuries,” an official said.

A second official said that the gunfight lasted for almost an hour and that the situation was tense.

Moreh in the Tengnoupal district has been on high alert after a spate of attacks on security forces, especially Manipur Police commandos. On Monday, two men including a former territorial army soldier and head of Moreh’s village defence force were arrested for the murder of a Manipur Police officer on October 30. Moreh has been tense and under a curfew since then.

The Kuki organisations have accused Manipur commandos of bias and demanded that they be removed immediately.

At least 200 people have been killed and over 50,000 people displaced since the beginning of the ethnic violence in May last year between Kuki and Meitei groups. The violence has birthed new armed militias ostensibly guarding their villages and new boundaries within the state. Kuki mostly live in the hill districts and Meiteis in the Imphal valley.