4 people were killed by suspected insurgents in Manipur
Four villagers including a father and a son were kidnapped and killed by suspected insurgents in a hilly area between Churachandpur and Bishnupur district, police sources told NDTV today.
The four men from Bishnupur's Akasoi village, 45 km from the state capital Imphal, had gone to a nearby forest to collect firewood in the harsh winter, sources said.
They were first kidnapped by the suspected insurgents before they were allegedly tortured and killed, according to a police complaint filed by the families of the men who went missing yesterday.
The police in Bishnupur's Kumbi trekked up the forest and recovered the bodies today, sources said.
The security forces are conducting search operations in the area, sources said.
The four villagers likely walked into the so-called "buffer zone" that divides the two districts while collecting firewood on Wednesday, police sources said.
Purported videos on social media show some armed people in camouflage battledress claiming responsibility for the killings.
The latest killings put a big question mark on the effectiveness of the temporary "buffer zone" when suspected insurgents keep killing people who go to the foothills for farming and other activity linked to livelihoods.
Ethnic tensions between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis persist eight months since May 2023, when violence broke out after the Kukis' protest against the Meiteis' demand for Scheduled Tribes' (ST) status.
Kuki-dominated Churachandpur comes under the hill district category, and is 35 km from the Meitei-dominated valley district Bishnupur.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh told NDTV in an exclusive interview on January 8 that the violence that began due to tensions between the two communities has now changed into a situation where insurgents are attacking the security forces.
"During these past eight months, unwanted incidents took place on some days, not for the whole eight months. Three-four months were peaceful and silent. The violence during the new year was between the state security forces and militants, not between two communities. Now, the dimension of the conflict has changed to state forces fighting against militants," Mr Singh told NDTV.