New Delhi: A day after schools resumed classes in violence-hit Manipur, a woman was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside a school in the Imphal West district of the northeastern state on Thursday, officials said. The incident took place at Kwakeithel Mayai Koibi under Lamphel police station around 3.40 pm on Wednesday, according to the officials.
As per the agency, she had gone near the school for some work but was not connected with any educational institute.
Sources close to PTI said that intermittent gunfire was heard in a village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district early Thursday, hours after security forces thwarted clashes when men armed with automatic weapons began to attack villagers. Armed groups from nearby areas gathered in the area, escalating tensions, the sources revealed.
However, the situation was brought under control because of the deployment of Assam Rifles personnel in the area.
Following the killing of the woman, a tribal organisation demanded the imposition of President’s Rule in the northeastern state.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) identified the woman as Donngaihching, a mentally ill person who lived on alms provided by locals. “We again urge the central government to relieve the incapable state government and impose President’s Rule immediately,” the ITLF said in a statement.
More than 100 people have lost their lives and over 3,000 injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.