Gunflght near army base, houses torched, soldier hurt
Naga house torched deliberately, won't remain silent: Liangmai body
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 19 2023:
Suspected Kuki militants torched five houses - four of Meetei and one of Naga, at Leimakhong Chingmang in tne intervening night of June 18 and 19.At the same time, an Army soldier was injured in a gunflght that took place in the area.
Meanwhile, taking serious note on the act of arson by Kuki militants, Liangmai Naga Council, Eastern Zone has strongly condemned the act, which they termed as a deliberate act committed with full knowledge, and stated they will not remain silent.
Leimakhong Chingmang is.
a mixed settlement of Meetei, Kuki and Liangmai Naga communities.
The Kuki militants not only burnt the five houses but also fired several rounds which resulted in retaliatory firing by security forces.
In a tweet, Spear Corps of Indian Army said that armed miscreants resorted to unprovoked firing from Kanto Sabal towards Chingmang village during night of June 18-19 .
Army columns resorted to controlled retaliatory fire keeping in view presence of villagers in the area.
One army soldier sustained gunshot wound and has been evacuated to Military Hospital Leimakhong where his condition is stated to be stable.
Additional columns have been inducted in the area and joint operations are in progress, it stated.
The soldier reportedly suffered gun -shot wounds in his left leg in the unpro -voked firing around 11.45pm Sunday.
Kanto Sabal is considered one of the most vulnerable villages as similar incidents of intimidating firing and torching of houses had occurred on May 29 and 31 nights, and one June 1 .
The said village is close to the Leimakhong military bastion, which is one of the largest base of the Indian army in Manipur.
Meanwhile, addressing the media at Manipur Press Club here on Mon day, the Naga home owner Akhon Liangmai, whose house was burned down, said that the community has been remaining as neutral in the current violence.
Since the village is a mixed settlement of the three communities, they had hoped that no such violence would take place in the area.
However, the Kuki militants burned his house along with four belonging to Meetei families last night, she said.
While pointing out there is significant presence of army personnel in the area as the Leimakhong military base is nearby, Akhon Liangmai regretted that the Indian Army did nothing to stop the arsonists and drew the attention of the govern ment to take up adequate security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
She further said that all the Naga houses put up signs so that anybody could know that they belong to Naga community.
Despite these signs, the Kuki militants burned his house but left all the houses belonging to the Kuki in the vicinity untouched, she said while adding that it shows how local people were involved in the incident.
Liangmai Naga Council Eastern Zone chairman Loveson Chawang, who was also present at the press meet, said that the village is adjacent to the camp of 57 Mountain Division of the Indian Army.
Despite the heavy presence of army, the perpetrators managed to torch the houses including one of Naga community.
The council takes the matter seriously and will not remain silent, he affirmed while warning of serious repercussion if such activities targeting the Naga community continue.
Loveson Chawang further appealed to the government to control the violence, that has been continuing since May 3 and restore peace by initiating peace dialogues between the two communities.
Mention may be made that over 120 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki community that broke out over a month ago.
The state government had imposed a curfew on 11 districts and banned internet services in a bid to stop the spread of rumours in the state but to no avail as violence continues intermittently.
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