Kangpokpi: Violence over a land-dispute erupted again between residents of Konsakhul and Leilon Vaiphei Kuki village under Leimakhong Police Station in Kangpokpi District today. Many villagers sustained injuries in the scuffle. According to sources, following a heated confrontation between locals of the two villages some days back, residents of Vaiphei Kuki village today blocked the road in the area at around 8 am allegedly in a bid to stop residents of Konsakhul from passing through Vaiphei Kuki Village. This led to an intense scuffle between the villagers. They pelted and catapulted stones on one another, leaving many injured.
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A team of Kangpokpi Police immediately arrived at the site and took stock of the situation. Police resorted to firing tear gas shells to control the situation. Later, top officials including Manipur Additional DGP (Law and Order) Lupheng Kailun, Kangpokpi District Deputy Commissioner Kengoo Zuringla, IGP Zone-1 Themthing Ngasangva, IGP Zone-3 Nishit Kumar Ujjwal, Kangpokpi District SP Th. Vikramjit, Additional SP, SDO Kangpokpi and additional police personnel arrived at the site to prevent any further untoward incidents. They held dialogue with chiefs of both the villages and managed to bring the situation under control.
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Chairman of Konsakhul D. Adam Liangmai claimed that on March 25 night, locals of Leilon Vaiphei Kuki village damaged one JCB Excavator brought to Konsakhul for work purposes and even detained two villagers who were later rescued by Leimakhong Police Station. He expressed disappointment that the police didn’t book the miscreants.
On the other hand, Leilon Vaiphei village member Thangkholian Vaiphei said many Konsakhul villagers are cattle farmers and they let their cattle loose mindelessly, destroying their fields and gardens time and again. Hence, they had built a concrete wall but the wall was repeatedly destroyed. He said on March 25, the women society of Leilon Vaiphei Kuki village asked the JCB driver heading to Konsakhul to stop, but upon his failure, irate villagers damaged the vehicle. They detained the JCB driver and two other villagers of Konsakhul. Thangkholian said they did not assault them and were safely handed over to Leimakhong Police Station. He condemned that around 300 people stormed the residence of their village chief this morning, which led to the scuffle.
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