Ukhrul: Following the attack by alleged armed Kuki-Zo-Hmar armed groups on a relief camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) at Borobekra Police Station in Jiribam on Monday, November 11, 2024 that left two elderly Meitei villagers dead, while six others, mainly women and children that went missing, abducted by armed militants, are all believed to have been killed. The two Meiteis/Meeteis killed on Monday were identified as 66-year-old Laishram Biren and 75-year-old Maibam Kesho from Loukoipung Village.
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According to a report in the Barak Bulletin, three bodies were brought to SMCH (Silchar Medical College and Hospital) at around 9 PM on Saturday night recovered from Barak River upstream near Jirimukh in Jiribam District. The report adding that another three were brought to the morgue in the wee hours of Saturday.
The six missing persons, last seen at the Borobekra relief camp, included 66-year-old Yurambam Rani, 25-year-old Laishram Heitombi, her two young children (2-year-old L. Chingkheinganba and 10-month-old L. Lanngamba), 30-year-old Telem Thoibi, and 8-year-old T. Thajanganbi.
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Barak Bulletin also reported, “the locals believe the bodies were dumped in the river to send a chilling message highlighting the brutal killings.”
The abduction appeared to be a retaliatory action by the Kuki-Zo-Hmar armed groups after 10 from their community members were killed allegedly in the hands of CRPF jawans. While the Manipur Police has claimed the 10 killed were “militants,” Kuki-Zo-Hmar civil bodies claimed that the 10 killed were “Village Volunteers.”
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The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) on Saturday had petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “immediate intervention in the abduction of six innocent women and minor children” from Jiribam district of Manipur by “armed Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups”.
It may be mentioned that the Manipur Police in a press briefing said that, on November 11, 2024, between 2:30 and 3:00 PM, militants launched a coordinated assault on the police station and CRPF post, using heavy weaponry, including RPGs and automatic firearms. The attack caused significant damage to nearby houses, with several set ablaze.
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Sources say that security arrangements has been tightening at SMCH with bodies brought in for autopsy at Silchar Medical College Hospital, with deployment of Assam Police Commandos.
The 10 bodies of Kuki-Zo-Hmar individuals, according to sources, have been handed over to Manipur Police from SMCH and Hospital on Saturday. Their bodies will be airlifted from Masimpur to Churachandpur District.
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