3 Dead, Houses Set Ablaze In Fresh Outbreak Of Violence In Strife-Torn Manipur

Manipur has been again hit by violence and arson after three people died while several houses were put on fire in the Bishnupur district of the state.

Manipur Violence: At least three people died in a fresh incident of violence in strife-torn Manipur late on Friday, reported news agency PTI citing police. The dead include a father-son duo and are said to be from the Meitei community. Police told the agency that the three were gunned down while sleeping and later slashed with swords at Kwakta in the district. They added that the attackers came from Churachandpur. PTI reported that the deceased were staying in a relief camp but had moved to their residences in Kwakta on Friday after the situation had improved, police said. 

Angry with the incident, a mob soon gathered at Kwakta and was willing to head towards Churachandpur but was stopped by security personnel, police said, as quoted by PTI. It added that a heavy exchange of fire between state forces and militants took place at nearby Phougakchao and in the vicinity of Kwakta. 

According to Kalinga TV and India Today, several houses of people belonging to the Kuki community were also set on fire, Police sources have told the news outlet that a group of people crossed the buffer zone and opened fire in the Meitei areas. The buffer zone is located over 2 km ahead of the Kwakta area in Bishnupur district and is safeguarded by the central forces, the report added. 

On August 4, as per PTI, Manipur police said that a joint security force conducted an operation in the Koutruk hill range and destroyed as many as seven illegal bunkers. 

This comes two days after a total of 17 people in Manipur sustained injuries in clashes as Army and Rapid Action Force personnel lobbed tear gas shells in the Kangvai and Phougakchao regions of Bishnupur district on Thursday. Before the clashes, a planned mass burial for Kuki-Zomi individuals, who lost their lives in Manipur's ethnic conflict, was halted, reported news agency PTI.

Violence erupted in Manipur on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the northeastern state to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Over 160 people have lost their lives in the ethnic clashes.

According to PTI, Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.

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