When security personnel were evacuating Meiteis from Churachandpur in Manipur, four individuals were shot and killed. Meanwhile, Letminthang Haokip, a tax assistant, was reportedly slain in Imphal, according to the IRS (Indian Revenue Service) Association. They tweeted, “No cause or ideology can justify the murder of an innocent public servant performing their job.”
This shooting in Churachandpur comes after days of fierce clashes between the state’s majority Meitei community and the Kuki tribe, which had also originated in the area on Wednesday. While state capital Imphal has seen Kukis at the receiving end of the violence, the Meiteis have been targeted in areas dominated by hill tribes.
According to Churachandpur resident and researcher Muan Hansingh (24), violence started in the town on Friday about 7 o’clock. “People are staying in their houses due to the deployment of security forces. We learned about 7 o’clock that the town’s last Meitei residents would be evacuated by security forces. The opposition to the evacuation gathered along Tidim Road, the major thoroughfare of the town, and blocked it off. Women were placed in the front of the barricade because we believed they wouldn’t be shot at. However, the guards started firing, and four people perished, he claimed.
In Imphal, a representative of the Assam Rifles claimed to have heard that a grouping of “80-200” individuals had taken place and that four people had perished in the firing. “Evacuation of people from different parts of the state is constantly going on,” he added, adding that road blockades are still frequent in various regions of the state.
A senior police official from the district put the death toll at three, while a senior official from the central security forces stated four had passed away.
In the meantime, the CRPF’s DIG (ops) wrote in an internal communication to his force: “Regarding ensuring safety of CRPF personnel on leave, Competent Authority has desired all the units offices/establishments to promptly contact their personnel hailing from Manipur, who are currently on leave, during the prevailing Law and Order situation in Manipur. They are instructed to report right away, with their families, to the nearest CRPF, BSF, or SF location if they ever feel unsafe or uneasy. Please make sure to give such employees the highest priority feasible help.
This occurs the day after a CRPF constable named Chonkholen Haokip was shot and killed while on leave for attempting to stop people from setting a village on fire.
