Fitting adieu paid to slain heroes
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 05 2023:
The 13 Meitei youths who were killed at Leithao village in Tengnoupal by suspected Kuki militants yesterday have been laid to rest at Andro Torongthel in the evening today.
The mortal remains of the 13 youths including minors were brought at Andro Torongthel for burial after postmortem at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS), Porompat, Imphal East.
The 13 persons were mostly teens and some were only 16 years old.
Mourning the killing of the 13, Khwairamband Keithel and all major markets and shops in Imphal remained shut from noon today.
Shops at Paona Keithel, Thangal Keithel, Nagamapal, Kwakeithel, Lamlong, Singjamei, Konung Mamang and Kongba Keithel etc were shut.
After the postmortem were conducted at JNIMS, at around 6 pm, a massive procession crying the mortal remains was taken out with people paying floral tributes.
People in white mourning clothes had come out on the roads at Soibam Leikai, Checkon, Moirangkhom, Singjamei and Kakwa and other places since noon.
The procession, after 6 pm, travelled through Kongba Keithel, Singjamei, Canchipur, Lilong, Thoubal, Yairipok and reached Andro.
People in huge number mourned and lined up all along the roads and paid floral tributes to the martyrs.
They were buried at Andro Torongthel Chingkhong with a gun salute.
The killing of the 13 Meitei youths came at a time when the Government has relaxed mobile internet ban barring some vulnerable areas.
While security forces have claimed that the 13 youths were killed in a gunfight with a group of outfit, no arms were found besides their bodies, reports said.
As the detail of the incident remains a mystery, whether the 13 youths including the minors were armed is a question that is being raised from many sections.
Moreover, there has been no report of any casualty on the side of the other group involved in the alleged "gunfight".
The bodies of the 13 youths reached Imphal's JNIMS Hospital late last night.
When the bodies were being brought, people came out on the road and showered flowers as a mark of respect to the deceased.
Even as speculations about how the 13 might have been killed are doing the round among the people with some suspecting that they might have been caught and executed, only the postmortem and a swift investigation may shed light on the killings, said people.