Kuki militants torch houses at Kwatha Khunou
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, March 11 2024:
Kuki militants burned down two houses of Meetei community at Kwatha Khunou, a village located near border pillar number 81 under Moreh sub- division of Tengnoupal district, on Sunday night.
Sources said that the Kuki militants torched the houses that belonged to Laishram Irabot (Ningthou) and Wahengbam Budha on Sunday around 8 pm.
Residents of the small hamlet with around 10 households have been taking shelter in Kwatha Khu-njao since the violence broke out on May 3 and after Kuki narco-terrorists started targeting Meetei houses at the nearby Moreh town.
There was nobody in the village at the time of the incident and so there is no report of any casualty.
Consequent to the incident, joint team of Assam Rifles, Tengnoupal district police led by the SP and commando personnel went to the village and took stock of the situation.
Residents of both Kwatha Khunou and Kwatha Khunjao also visited the village to assess the situation.
The area is under close security watch at present.
Both Kwatha Khunou and Kwatha Khunjao are the last bastions of Meetei settlement in the district near the Indo-Myanmar border.
Despite being surrounded by Kuki villages on all sides, the two villages have been a symbol of resilience against escalating violence, until it caught fire on Monday.
In December last year, the High Court of Manipur took up a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking intervention in a humanitarian crisis at Kwatha village.
"Because of ethnic violence, the Kwatha villagers are not able to sell any products from the village, thereby curtailing their livelihood.
On other hand, the students as well as others from Kwatha village, who were living outside in other parts of the state and elsewhere are neither able to return to the village nor received any money from their home thereby putting them in a pitiful condition," stated the PIL.