Suspected militants torch police outpost, houses in Manipur

In renewed violence, suspected militants on Saturday set fire to a police outpost and set several houses on fire in Manipur’s Jiribam district Jiribam, which has a diverse ethnic composition, officials said.

The militants torched the Jiri police outpost in Chotobekra area on the banks of the Barak river shortly after Friday midnight. The gunmen also launched multiple attacks at Lamtai khunou in the district, located 220 km from the state capital Imphal.

Commandos rushed

Several houses have been burnt, mostly in the outlying areas of Jiribam district, an official based in Jiribam told PTI.

A commando contingent of the Manipur Police has been flown to the affected area to battle the militants, police said.

MP appeals

Meanwhile, newly elected Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has urged the Manipur government to protect the lives and properties of the people of Jiribam district.

Akoijam told the media in Imphal that he had spoken to people in Jirbham who told him that while those in the town were getting security, those in peripheral areas were not being provided security.

Fresh killing

Nearly 240 people, mostly women and children, have been evacuated from their villages in the Jiribam district and are sheltering in Jiri town after violence erupted following the killing of a man allegedly by militants.

The killing of the 59-year-old triggered fresh ethnic flare-up in the district which had remained unaffected by the violence.

The ethnic conflict between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and hills-based Kukis has led to the deaths of more than 200 people and rendered thousands homeless since May last year.