The IRB camp in Manipur's Naranseina where two CRPF soldiers were killed
A gunfight between two armed groups this morning left one dead and three injured in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, the police said.
Gunmen attacked Koutruk village in Imphal West district from the hilltops in neighbouring Kangpokpi, leading to retaliation by an armed group from the village below, the police said.
The fierce gunfight spread to the adjacent villages of Kadangband and Senjam Chirang, the police said.
The Meitei-dominated Koutruk village in the far end of the state capital Imphal valley has seen intense clashes and has been identified as one of the most vulnerable areas since ethnic clashes broke out with the hill-dominated Kuki tribes in May 2023.
The Kuki group Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) based in Kangpokpi, 45 km from Imphal, has called a 12-hour shutdown in protest against the gunfight.
Manipur Police's Initial Information
The gunfight comes a day after the Manipur Police said Kuki insurgents attacked a police camp and killed two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers in Bishnupur district's Naranseina village.
Initially, police sources said heavily armed Kuki insurgents came from the hills about 2 km away using the cover of darkness at 12.45 am and attacked the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) camp with grenades, small-arms fire and crude 'artillery' locally known in the hills as "pumpi gun".
The gunfight with "a group of suspected Kuki militants and their supporters" lasted 40-50 minutes, the officer-in-charge of Moirang police station said in a letter to the Bishnupur district magistrate for post-mortem of the two CRPF soldiers who were killed in action - sub-inspector N Sarkar, 55, and head constable Arup Saini, 40.
"Will Find Out Who Did It": Security Adviser
Later, state security adviser Kuldiep Singh told reporters the attackers were yet to be identified, and indicated they have got some leads.
Both Meitei and Kuki civil society groups have accused each other of trying to malign their community by linking the attack to insurgents from the other's ethnicity. The security adviser, however, said the attackers are unknown though they have a rough idea of the suspects.
"... That (investigation) is at a very nascent stage, and I can't exactly say. But you can very well anticipate and understand that whatever group in that area is active - I don't need to repeat the names - you all know which kind of group is active in that area," Mr Singh said, without naming the group.
CRPF Inspector General Akhilesh Prasad Singh said the attackers will be identified and punished for their actions very soon.
"There was a huge deployment of CRPF in the elections and at that time, our force had gone from a few areas for election duty. These anti-social elements got the opportunity. They felt that our strength was less in numbers and took advantage of it," he said.
Attackers' Motive
Mr Singh said the motive of the attackers is unknown, but "there are so many things which come to mind".
"Like earlier also you might have seen that groups are now attacking national infrastructure like road, tower line. As a guesswork it now goes that they are attacking central forces. How can that go? It cannot be tolerated. All things will be put against them to find out, kaise ho rahan hai (how is it happening) and we will take it out," Mr Singh said, alluding to the April 16 attack on fuel tankers on a highway.
A little-known insurgent group United Kuki National Army (UKNA) on April 17 had claimed responsibility for the ambush on civilian fuel tankers on National Highway 37 a day before. The UKNA is not part of the tripartite suspension of operations (SoO) agreement - a kind of ceasefire - signed between over two dozen Kuki-Zo insurgent groups and the Centre and the state.
The security adviser denied intelligence failure as one of the contributing factors to the deadly attack on the Naranseina IRB camp.
"Intelligence is a very broad subject. Intelligence failure can be attributed at the drop of a hat. It's not that we were expecting they will attack any of the forces. And this is the first time they have attacked the forces. None of the Meitei or Kuki militants were attacking the forces because the forces have come to maintain peace," Mr Singh said, adding that's why the central forces are in the middle of both communities.
"... Even both sides (Meitei and Kuki) call the BSF, CRPF, army, Assam Rifles neutral forces. They themselves say neutral forces. So if they are neutral forces, why are you attacking the neutral forces? Whoever has done it, they will have to pay a very heavy price," he said.
Civil Society Groups' War Of Words
Kuki civil society organisations (CSOs) in statements alleged the attack on the CRPF camp could only have been done by some valley-based armed group, as Naranseina is a Meitei-dominated village, deep inside Bishnupur district.
"... It is highly suspicious that this is a propaganda effort of the VBIGs (valley-based insurgent groups) to mislead the people and cast the Kukis in a negative light as a cover for their numerous anti-national activities," the CSO Kuki Inpi Manipur said in a statement.
Meitei groups pointed out the IRB camp at Naranseina is only 2 km from the hills, and the attackers came from that direction.
The CSO Meitei Heritage Society (MHC) in a statement said "the Kuki militants have become so confident about getting away that they have crossed the 'sensitive area' and brazenly attacked the IRB camp, killing the two CRPF soldiers."
"As we say this, Kuki pressure groups have started circulating disinformation that it was Meiteis who attacked the IRB camp. These Kuki pressure groups had also blamed the Meiteis for the recent attack on fuel trucks on the highway and for the sabotage of a bridge in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district. The Kuki militants are running false flag attacks to malign the Meiteis as they want violence to break out again in less than a week on May 3, the first anniversary of the Manipur ethnic crisis. This is a pattern we have seen," the MHC said in the statement.