In a fresh incident of violence in restive Manipur, at least three people, including a woman, were killed and two other injured by the suspected militants in Manipur’s Khoken village on Friday, police said.
Khoken village lies on the boundary between Kangpokpi and Imphal West district and the suspected militants and the victims belong to different communities.
According to the police, the extremists, who were reportedly dressed in khaki and driving military vehicles, came to the Khoken village early on Friday morning and fired upon villagers with automatic rifles.
Accusing the Meitei community for the killing, Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) said that this attack is yet another example of the utter disregard shown by the militants and demanded swift action should be taken against the perpetrators.
“The incident also violated the peace process called by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah. We urge upon the authorities to take decisive actions against the militants,” the ITLF said in a statement.
It said that one of the victims, Domkhohoi, was shot dead inside a church when she was in early morning prayer.
Additional columns of the Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed to control the situation in the Khoken village.
Meanwhile, reports of incidents of violence including burning of houses were received from two other districts. But official confirmation has not yet been received.
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