Manipur Violence: Woman Shot Dead, Face Disfigured. Three Trucks Set Ablaze In Imphal

The trucks, used for transporting LPG cylinders, were parked in an open field when they were set on fire, police said.

Personnel of Assam Rifles keep a watch amid ongoing ethnic clashes in the state, at Phaileng village in Senapati district. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: A middle-aged woman was shot dead and her face disfigured in Imphal East district in Manipur on Saturday evening, news agency PTI reported. According to the report, some armed men allegedly shot the woman, who was in her mid-50s, in her face and disfigured it before fleeing the spot. The incident took place at her residence in Sawombung area.

The police are on high alert following the incident and the area has been cordoned off. Manipur police personnel have been carrying out searches and raiding some of the houses in the nearby locality to gather more information. Statements of people around the site of the incident are also being recorded, PTI quoted police officials as saying.

According to the report, the woman was from the Maring Naga community.

Police haven’t yet revealed the identity of the woman and the motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, three empty trucks were set on fire in Manipur's Imphal West district earlier in the day, PTI quoted police as saying. The incident took place at Awang Sekmai in Sekmai police station area.

According to police, the trucks, used for carrying LPG cylinders, were parked in an open field when they were set on fire.

Those behind the incident are yet to be identified, police said, adding it is not immediately clear why the trucks were set ablaze. A case has been registered in connection with the incident, police added.

The security forces tried to douse the flames. However, they failed to save the trucks, police said.

Notably, more than 150 people have lost their lives and several thousand have been injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

It is to be noted that Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of the state’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals, comprising Nagas and Kukis, constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.