Manipur Cop Among 2 Shot Dead, 5th Pre-Poll Violence Incident In 2 Months

In a fresh incident of pre-poll violence in Manipur, a cop and another man were shot on Monday by unidentified attackers. The gunmen fired at policeman Abujam Tomba and Abujam John in the Wangoi town of the Imphal West district.

The attackers came in a car and shot at the two men when they standing in a street a little after midnight, according to locals. 

John died on the way to the hospital and Tomba died of injuries at a hospital in the capital city of Imphal on Monday.

The security forces launched a massive search operation immediately after the incident to arrest the attackers.

This is the first incident of pre-poll violence after the Election Commission announced the schedule of the elections to the 60-member Manipur assembly on Saturday.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Agriculture Minister Oinam Lukhoi visited the area and met the families of the victims.

The Chief Minister, while talking to the media later, said that the government would go all out to catch the attackers as angry locals blocked roads on Monday to protest the killings.

Monday's incident was the fifth such incident in the last 54 days in Manipur. No arrests have so far been made in these cases. Also, no outfit has claimed responsibility.

Manipur will vote in two phases on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.