Three dead, four hurt in Kangchup firing
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 05 2023: At least three peo-ple were killed and four left injured after Kuki militants launched an attack in Kang-chup on Monday.

The deceased have been identified as Pukhrambam Nikhil (21) s/o Nodey of Khundrakpam Lai Mamang, Angom Rakesh (45) s/o Angom Tembi of Phayeng Sabal Leikai and Angom Romesh (62) s/o (L) Mukta of Phayeng Awang Leikai.

Their bodies are being kept at JNIMS morgue.

Meanwhile, the four in-jured have been identified as Sanasam Gunajit (48) s/o Dabaljit of Naoremthong near CRPF camp, Chabung-barn Canet Longjam (22) s/o Ojit of Chabung Corn - pany, Angom Chaoba (35) s/o Gunamani of Phayeng Kharang and Salam Hitler (28) Kulamani of Uripok Tourangbam Leikai.

All four have been admitted to RIMS.

According to reports, Pukhrambam Nikhil, An-gora Rakesh and Angom Romesh suffered gunshot wounds when Kuki mili-tants fired several rounds around 9 am Monday.

The state forces present in the area retaliated and tried to rescue the three but the shootout continued for some hours.

After driving away the Kuki militants, the state forces reached the actual spot of the incident around 2 pm but could not save them as they succumbed to in-juries.

In addition to the gunshot injuries, wounds likely to be inflicted by sharp weapons could be observed on their faces and bodies.

Meanwhile security forces reportedly recovered 790 sophisticated and automat-ic arms and 10,648 rounds of ammunition that were looted from the police and various other establishments during the ethnic riots that broke out on May 3, an offi-cial said on Monday.

There are also reports of several incidents of violence in the last 24 hours in dif-ferent districts but official confirmations are yet to be received.

Media reports said that at least three people were burnt alive or beaten to death by a mob in Imphal West district.

The victims were travelling in two vehicles when the in-cident occurred under Lam-sang AC on Sunday evening.

A state government offi-cial in Imphal said that the Army, Assam Rifles along with Manipur Police com-mando and other Central Armed Police Forces (CAM, including Border Security Force, Central Reserve Po-lice Force and Indo- Tibetan Border Police, have contin-ued their search operation to recover the looted arms and to nab the militants.

Defence sources said that as part of a joint strategy for re-covery of snatched weapons, the ongoing operations are significant for restoring peace and would continue in a cali-brated manner.

"The search operations are being conducted under the surveillance cover of drones and quad-copters.

The op-erations have so far resulted in recovery of large numbers of weapons (mostly automat-ic), mortars, ammunition and other warlike stores," the de-fence spokesperson said.

He said that while conduct-ing these operations, adequate measures were undertaken to ensure that the locals were not harassed and personnel safety and security is maintained.

Following the directions from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the security forc-es have once again appealed to all those in possession of looted weapons to surren-der the same at the earliest to ensure peace and stability in Manipur.

Security forces also warned that failure to surrender these weapons would make all such people liable for strict legal action.

Shah, on the last day of his four-day visit to the vi-olence-hit state on June 1, requested all concerned to surrender their weapons to the security forces and admin-istration, otherwise strict legal action would be taken against those who possess arms and ammunition.

Media reports claimed that thousands of different types of arms and large quantities of ammunition were looted by the miscreants and the ag-itated mob from many police stations and security camps after the riots broke out.

Officials said that currently, around 37,450 people from different communities are being sheltered in 272 relief camps, including community halls, in 13 districts.

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