Manipur Cops Refute Kuki Group's Charges Of Security Forces Collaborating With Militants

The Manipur Police has refuted charges by a Kuku organisation accusing security forces of collaborating with militants.

The Manipur Police has rejected charges levelled by Kuki organisations accusing security forces of collaborating with militants in Moreh which saw incidents of violence recently. The Manipur police refuted the allegations, calling them baseless and misleading. 

The town of Moreh, bordering Myanmar, has recently witnessed violence and the state government said miscreants from the neighbouring country were creating disturbances in the crisis-hit Northeastern state, news agency PTI reported. "The allegation of the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) and the Kuki Inpi Manipur regarding collaborations with valley-based insurgent groups and Meitei militants disguised as security force personnel in Moreh is not true. The allegations are baseless and misleading," the police said in a statement.

This comes after two police commandos were killed and several were injured in militant attacks in Moreh on January 17. The deceased were identified as Wangkhem Somorjit (32) and Takhellambam Saileshwore who hailed from Lamshang in the Imphal West district. While Saileshwore was gunned down in the evening, Somorjit succumbed to his injuries during treatment at Key Location Point (KLP) of Assam Rifles.

Meanwhile, constable N Bheem (35) sustained injuries after he was hit by a bullet in his left leg, and ASI Sidharth Thokchom (35) was injured in his face and ears and was airlifted to Imphal for treatment

The fire exchange started when the militants fired at the security forces 48 hours after the arrests of two suspects in the October killing of a police officer in Moreh. The gun battle began after the miscreants fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at a temporary police unit near Moreh and the police forces retaliated.

The Kuki organisations alleged that the insurgents were allowed to "mix freely" with the state police.

Manipur has been witnessing disturbances since ethnic clashes broke out in the state on May 3 last year. The clashes left almost 180 dead and displaced hundreds. The violence broke out at a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised to protect against the demands of the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.