An injured eight-year-old boy was killed along with his mother and another relative when an ambulance with the three on board was waylaid by a mob and set ablaze in Manipur's West Imphal district, officials said.
Autopsy reports of the victims of the Jiribam killings in Manipur have revealed brutal injuries, including multiple bullet wounds, severe trauma, and missing body parts. The reports, released on Wednesday, detail the horrific injuries suffered by the victims, including a 10-month-old infant, who had both eyeballs missing and a bullet injury to the knee. The killings, which took place in November, are part of the ongoing ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups in Manipur.
The agency filed the charge sheets in the interconnected cases before a designated special court in Kamrup, giving a sequence of events before they went missing.
Demanding the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal on Tuesday questioned why the CM could not meet the women who were stripped and paraded, when she could do so.
Armed vigilante groups have been taking the law into their own hands in parts of Manipur, in the wake of ethnic rioting earlier, thus complicating the peace process. At times, militant groups have joined in the fray, creating an even more volatile cocktail of ethnic tension.
The mob tried to storm the camp of 3rd IRB batallion in the Khangabok area to loot arms and ammunition, they said.
More than 1,000 arms, including handguns, machine guns, grenades, mortars, and INSAS and AK-56 rifles, were surrendered by people in Manipur during a two-week amnesty period for voluntarily giving up looted and illegally held weapons. The surrender of arms comes as Manipur grapples with ethnic violence that has left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by a mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19.
Terming such 'unwarranted interference' detrimental to the timely response by security forces, the Army's Spears Corps shared a video on Twitter late on Monday of some such incidents.
The move comes after the Manipur high court had directed the state government to operationalise mobile towers, on a trial basis, in all those district headquarters which have not been affected by the ethnic clashes.
A leading Kuki-Zo organisation in Manipur has demanded a judicial probe into the killing of 10 youths in a gunfight with the CRPF, raising questions about the paramilitary force's neutrality. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) also reiterated its demand for a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo community in the state, where ethnic violence between Kuki tribals and Meiteis has claimed over 250 lives since May last year. The ITLF claimed the post-mortem reports showed the youths were shot from the back, suggesting they were not engaged in a gunfight when they were killed. The organisation further alleged that CRPF personnel stationed nearby refused to intervene during an attack on Zairawn village, where a woman was killed. The ITLF has called for a political solution to the ongoing conflict, urging the Union Home Minister to consider a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo people.
All marketplaces in the town were deserted and attendance in government and private offices was nil. Schools and colleges also remained shut, officials said.
Firing between security forces and armed men has been reported from Pallel area of Manipur's Tengnoupal district since early hours of Friday, officials said.
Security forces fired several rounds in the air to disperse the mob, officials said.
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
'It is difficult to replace him because if he is replaced, it will lead to a sense of defeat among the Meiteis, rightly or wrongly, and more chaos.'
The situation in minority-dominated Lilong Chingjao area in Manipur's Thoubal district, where four villagers were gunned down by unidentified assailants, remained calm but tense on Tuesday as additional security forces were deployed, an official said.
Chowdhury said that the visiting MPs will present their observations on Manipur in Parliament.
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by a mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19.
The members were arrested on Monday for threatening people and obstructing the land demarcation process in Thoubal district.
Ahead of the visit, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur.
Manipur Police have so far arrested five persons in connection with the May 4 parading of two tribal women in Kangpokpi district of the state, officials said on Saturday.
Business establishments remained closed on Tuesday morning and people were asked by security personnel to remain indoors through the public address system in New Chekon area of Imphal East district, where a mob torched two houses after four armed people, including a former MLA, forced people to shut their shops on Monday.
Frustration continues to mount over the prolonged mobile internet suspension with a Senapati district-based Naga students body imposing highway blockade over the issue since October 5.
The CBI has arrested from Pune a 22-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind behind the case of two missing Manipuri students who were believed to have been killed, officials said.
ESU coach Ngampao Kipgen, a member of the Kuki tribe, told Reuters he was forced to flee to the hills with his family after his house was burned down.
Stalin told the Manipur chief minister in a letter dated July 31 that he has been informed that more than 50,000 people were staying in relief camps due to the 'prevailing situation' in the northeastern state, apparently referring to the violence there.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday said it has asked Manipur government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation each within four weeks to the next of kin of all the people who died in ethnic clashes since May.
Unidentified "rioters" opened "unprovoked" fire at village Haraothel in Kangpokpi district of Manipur on Thursday morning, leading to tension in the area even as the army quoted "unconfirmed reports" to indicate some casualties.
The Manipur police said all personnel of the force from top to bottom are united and any attack on anyone and use of social media to target any officer or unit will be taken seriously and stringent action will be taken.
The incident occurred at Kwakeithel Mayai Koibi under Lamphel police station a day after classes 1 to 8 began in the state after two months because of the violence.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said his government will provide a one-time assistance of Rs 1000 to those living in relief camps because of ethnic rioting in the state.
The Manipur government has ordered the state police to conduct combing operations and sanitisation in areas bordering Imphal West district where two persons were killed and nine others injured in an attack by suspected militants, officials said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has formed a 10-member special investigation team (SIT) under a DIG-rank officer to probe six cases related to the Manipur violence referred to it by the state government, officials said on Friday.
A tagline below this adds "feel free to do so", an indication that questions will not be asked how the weapons were in their possession of those who drop by in the first place.
A women's rally outside the Imphal residence of Union minister R K Ranjan Singh turned ugly when the protestors threw stones at it demanding that he speak in Parliament about the situation in the ethnic strife-affected state.
As thousands of Meiteis and Kukis are in relief camps in violence-torn Manipur, a group of doctors that visited the state has expressed concerns about the issue of nutrition and mental health situation of the inmates.
Former India spinner and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh has demanded "capital punishment" for all those who were involved in the heinous crime of parading two Manipuri women naked and allegedly gang-raping them.
At least 25 miscreants with arms, ammunition and grenades have been rounded up by Indian Army and paramilitary forces across ethnic-strife riven Manipur, officials said on Monday.
In a fresh incident of arms looting, a mob comprising the majority community broke into a police armoury and stole weapons, including AK and 'Ghatak' series of assault rifles, and over 19,000 bullets of various calibres, officials said.
