GUWAHATI
A 70-year-old man was killed and five others were injured when a “rocket” fell on the house of late Mairembam Koireng Singh, Manipur’s first Chief Minister, in Bishnupur district on Friday (September 6, 2024).
Locals said a missile-like object with a smoke tail arced in on the house from behind the hills beyond Sendra Road area of Bishnupur district’s Moirang town. The incident happened at 3.30 p.m.
Bishnupur is in the Meitei-majority Imphal Valley while the hills and beyond, in Churachandpur district, are dominated by Kuki-Zo people. A conflict between the two communities has continued intermittently since May 3, 2023.
Police said the deceased was identified as R.K. Rabei of Moirang Pheewangbam Leikai. “The injured have been evacuated to a hospital and the area has been cordoned off,” he said.
Spate of attacks
A neighbour of the former Chief Minister, who died in 1994, said the “rocket” landed near where the victims were erecting a structure for an upcoming religious function. “They were hit by pieces that flew off the rocket,” he said.
This was the third attack by bombs or bomb-like objects since September 1, indicating the resumption of violence between the two warring communities after almost a four-month lull. The Manipur government claimed that “Kuki extremists” used drones to carry out some of the attacks.
Two people were killed and at least a dozen others were injured during the earlier attacks in Imphal West district.
Kuki groups claimed people in Imphal Valley died because of missiles misfired by the Manipur police and Meitei radical organisations such as the Arambai Tenggol. “There are no Kuki positions near places where the incidents happened,” the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum said.
The Meitei Heritage Society, a Delhi-based group rubbished this claim. “Understandably, this is a desperate attempt by the ITLF to lie through its teeth as there is no other way to justify the terror act of Kuki militants killing Meitei civilians through drone bombings and missile attacks. We expect more such lies from them,” it said.
Human chain
Before Friday’s incident, hundreds of people across five districts of Imphal Valley formed human chains to protest the “drone and gun attacks” that took away a couple of lives, including that of a 31-year-old woman, less than a week ago.
The protestors also vented their anger against the State government for failing to handle the ongoing conflict. They carried placards with slogans such as ‘Drone bombing is an act of terrorism’, ‘Manipur’s territorial integrity cannot be compromised’, and ‘We want peace; save Manipur’.
Later, the valley-based Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) called for an indefinite public curfew in the State from Friday. “Individuals are advised to remain at home as they are no longer secure outside. All educational institutions, including schools and colleges, should also close immediately and indefinitely,” the organisation said in a statement.
L. Nandakumar Singh, Director of Education (Schools), subsequently issued an order directing all government schools, government-aided, private and Central schools to remain closed “in view of the unrest and prevailing situation in the State and keeping in mind the safety of the students and teachers”.
Published - September 06, 2024 08:30 pm IST