Four militants were killed in a gunfight between members of two banned outfits -- Hmar People's Convention and Zoumi Revolutionary Army at Rengkai in Manipur's Churachandpur district today.
Official sources said that the ultras of the underground organisations exchanged heavy gunfire for over three hours at Renki, about 63 km from here.
First official reports said that three ZRA members and one HPC member were killed in the gunfight. The clash stopped only when the police reached the spot, but the militants escaped in different directions.
While the HPC had been fighting for a Hmar autonomous district council by incorporating Hmar-settled areas of Manipur and neighbouring states, ZRA had been trying to project a 'separate identity' for different Zoumi tribes in the region.
The bodies have been sent to the Regional Institute of Medical Science Hospital for post-mortem, the sources said.