One of the trucks set on fire on National Highway 37 in Manipur
Two trucks carrying essential items including vegetables were set on fire on National Highway 37 in Manipur today, police sources said. NH-37 connects the state capital Imphal with Jiribam, 210 km away near the interstate border with Assam.
The trucks were stopped and set on fire by unknown people in Noney district, sources said. Visuals of the attack show one of the trucks on fire, with sacks of onion and other essentials burning on the road.
The Rongmei Naga Students' Organisation Manipur (RNSOM) in a statement alleged the attack was carried out by "Kuki militants". It called for a boycott of all supplies going towards Kuki settlements in Noney and neighbouring Tamenglong district.
"Despite the ongoing unrest, the Rongmei Naga communities have played a crucial role in restoring peace and ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential commodities... The RNSOM strongly condemns the recent attack on two trucks, opening hundred rounds of automatic fire by armed Kuki militants," the student body of the Naga tribes said in the statement, adding it will be considered as an attack on all "Naga districts".
It said the trucks were carrying essential commodities including rice, onion and potatoes to Longmai, Noney, and Tamenglong districts.
The ethnic violence in Manipur is between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes dominant in some hill areas of the state. The Naga tribes have stayed away from the conflict.
The Kuki tribes, too, have been alleging that Meitei groups have been stopping trucks carrying essential goods from reaching Churachandpur and other remote hills where the Kuki tribes are settled.
Groups blocking highways in Manipur is not a new tactic. This form of protest and coercion has generally been used by almost every community to force the authorities into accepting their demands.