Following deaths of 2 civilians tension mounted in Imphal

Imphal: After a period of relative calm, Manipur witnessed intense tension as two persons died on Thursday morning.

The bodies, belonging to members of the Meitei community, were recovered from Haraothel village in the border area between Kangpokpi district and Imphal West, after a heavy exchange of fire.
On Thursday, footage from Imphal showed a gathering of people near the Manipur state unit office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Two persons were killed and several others injured in the incident in Haraothel village, as unidentified persons opened fire ‘without any provocation’.
The unfortunate incident sparked fresh tension in the heart of Imphal city in the evening, prompting hundreds of people to take to the streets to condemn the loss of life.

The tension escalated when a dead body was brought to Khwairamband ‘Women Bazar’ in Imphal city.
This prompted a large number of people from different parts of Imphal to gather at the place. The women’s gathering raised slogans criticizing the N Biren Singh government for failing to stop such acts of violence.

As the crowd swelled, large numbers of police and RAF personnel were deployed to manage the situation.
However, attempts by the police to extricate the body and request its handover resulted in clashes between the protesters and the security forces.

The police then fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd while the protesters responded by pelting stones and throwing stones.
A similar clash took place in Keishampat, where protesters clashed with security forces. Tear gas shelling continued till 9:30 pm, but finally the security forces managed to remove the body from the market.

Additionally, the army reported an exchange of gunfire along the Kangpokpi border, about 2.5 km from Harutil, at around 5:15 p.m.
Till date, more than 100 people have been killed in ethnic violence between Methi and Kuki communities in Manipur.

The clashes initially erupted after a ‘tribal solidarity march’ organized on May 3 to protest the demand of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) by the Meitei community in the hill districts.