Imphal, January 13: For the third consecutive day, Moreh witnessed another incident of shooting in which a young Kuki youth was shot dead by unidentified gunmen prompting the district administration to impose curfew to contain the situation.

Simultaneously the gates between Moreh and Myanmar have been shut down to check cross border movements of militants.

Giving a renewed thrust to the already high voltage tension running through Moreh, unidentified gunmen struck today at about 8.30 am killing a Kuki youth near the Kondong Lairembi Haraobung gate.

The deceased has been identified as Jamkhogin Haokip alias Hegin Haokip (28) of Zion Veng (Ward number 7) of Wild Life Colony.

According to the Kuki Students' Organisation, Moreh branch, the deceased was a civilian and had passed his Class X exam through the NIOS.

The incident occurred while the victim was selling the calendar of KBC.

He received a bullet wound on the back of the head with the bullet piercing through which killed him instantly.

The body has been retrieved by Moreh police and is presently kept at RIMS morgue.

Information received from Moreh said that the gunmen who fired the fatal gun shots numbered six.

Moreh police recovered six spent cartridges from the spot of the incident.

To pre-empt any further unwanted incident, the district administration reacted swiftly and imposed curfew at Moreh from 9 am today.

Today's incident is the third such attack in the last three days.

On January 11 unidentified gunmen shot and injured a youth while another youth was shot dead yesterday.

Moreh is a cosmopolitan town inhabited by different communities and tribes and the recent spurt in killing has given rise to unprecedented tension amongst the different groups of people living there.

The curfew has been imposed till 10 am tomorrow and the district administration will decide whether to prolong the curfew or lift it according to the situation.

To check the situation, a strong police team led by IG (LO-I) R Baral and DIG Range II, C Doungel has been camping at Moreh since yesterday.

At the moment a strong police force including 70 police commandos, 50 IRB personnel, 40 MR personnel of the 8th Bn are on the round the clock patrolling duty at Moreh.

This is in addition to the police station there as well as an Assam Rifles camp.

Despite the strong presence of security personnel, the district administration has closed Gate Number I and II to monitor and check movements of people, especially militants through the porous Indo-Myanmar border.

What has added to the headache of the district administration is the absence of the Chandel DC and ADC of Moreh.

Despite this hiccup, the family members of Laishram Panchamani, who was shot dead yesterday at this border town, received the body and conducted the last rites of the victim today, following an agreement with the Govt.The agreement was reached between the family members and IG R Baral.

The agreement stipulates paying the required ex-gratia to the bereaved family members.

Immediate financial aid was also given to the family members.

The agreement was arrived at under instructions from the Chief Minister.

In the meantime, a man who identified himself as a cadre of the KNA today claimed that Panchamani was not an innocent civilian.

The man claimed that Panchamani was awarded the capital punishment after it was verified that he was involved in collecting taxes for the UNLF.

The self proclaimed KNA cadre further said that Panchamani was killed in retaliation to the shooting of Sosol Kuki (25) who was shot and injured by unidentified gunmen on January 11 near the office of the Moreh Hill Tribal Council.

Meanwhile the identities of the two persons who were killed in a shoot out between two rival underground groups yesterday at Kheljang under Molcham police have been established today.

Of the two, one is a KNA cadre and he has been identified as James Kuki.

The other victims a civilian and is identified as Nanking Khongsai (45).

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