Three people, including a father and son, from the Meitei community were killed by suspected militants in Ukha Tampak village in Manipur's Bishnupur district between 2 am and 3am on August 5.
The attackers who raided the village near Kwakta, which comes under Phougakchao Ikhai police station limits, started firing indiscriminately, police sources said. The unarmed victims – a father-son duo and a neighbour – were guarding their houses and were gunned down in their sleep. They were later slashed with sharp weapons, said reports.
"The three used to stay in a relief camp but had moved to their residences in Kwakta on Friday after the situation had improved," PTI quoted police as saying.
This incident has escalated the tension in the area which is on the border of the Kuki-Zomi dominated Churachandpur district and the Bishnupur district which is dominated by the Meiteis. This border between the hills and valleys is a buffer zone guarded by central security forces.
Following the violence, a mob gathered in Kwakta on Saturday morning intending to move to Churachandpur but they were stopped by security forces. "Heavy exchange of fire between state forces and militants was going on at nearby Phougakchao and in the vicinity of Kwakta," they said.
The 24-hour general strike organised by a panel 27 assembly constituencies in the state on Saturday affected normal life in Imphal valley as markets and business establishments were shut in most areas.
On August 4, a joint security force destroyed seven illegal bunkers in the Koutruk hill range. The operation was carried out a day after a mob looted automatic weapons from the second Indian Reserve Battalion at Naransena in Bishnupur district. Over 4,000 weapons and lakhs of ammunition have been looted from police stations and armouries since the ethnic clashes began in May. More than 180 people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes in the past three months.
The outbreak of violence began after a court ordered the state to consider extending special economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education reserved for the tribal Kuki people to the majority Meitei population. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute a little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
-- with inputs from PTI
