Manipur: Four civilians, including father-son duo, killed on Bishnupur- Churachandpur border

In another incident of violence in Manipur, four individuals were killed at Haotak Phailen village of Churachandpur district on January 10 at around 3 pm. The village is located on the border of Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts. While Bishnupur is a Meitei-dominated district, Churachandpur is primarily inhabited by the Kuki tribe.

The dead have been identified as Oinam Romen Meitei, 45, Ahanthem Dara Meitei, 56, Thoudam Ibomcha Meitei, 53 and Thoudam Anand Meitei, 27. Among the four, two are from the same family— Ibomcha and his son Anand. All four belong to Meitei community and were from Tampha Khunou village in Bishnupur, adjacent to Haotak Phailen.

Locals in the Tampha Khunou claim that the four dead were innocent civilians who had gone to harvest ginger near the area where they were killed. They also say that the four were killed by Kuki militant groups, an allegation dismissed by the locals of Haotak Phailen.

Instead, they allege that there was a gunfight between the two groups in the forest of Haotak Phailen village, Churachandpur sub-division, 38 Km away from the district headquarters. This allegation of gunfight, however, has been rejected by government officials and security forces. 

The villagers in Haotak Phailen alleged that a group of people from Tampha Khunou took advantage of the proximity and resorted to illegal cutting of firewood in the forest of the village. The village volunteers, on receiving reports of illegal activity in the forest, acted swiftly to disperse them, resulting in the alleged “gunfight”. 

While four of those allegedly involved in wood cutting got killed, there was no report of casualty from the side of Haotak Phailen village volunteers. In fact, bodies of the those killed had several stab wounds on their bodies, reportedly inflicted by daggers, says a government source. “There was no gun fight. It was an act of murder,” a senior government functionary told India Today NE. Videos of some armed individuals later appeared on social media claiming to have killed “four lions”. 

Earlier, missing reports of the four found dead had been filed at Kumbi Police Station in Bishnupur. While the bodies of the three dead have been recovered, the fourth body is still missing. 

Intermittent incidents of violence have been reported in the last few months after clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May last year, which has so far claimed 180 lives.