Tension mounts in Manipur amid discovery of 13 bodies
Tension is running high in Manipur after the recovery of the bodies of the 13 people who died in a gunfight between unknown armed miscreants at Leithao village near Saibol in Tengnoupal district under Machi police station on Monday.
All shops and business establishments were shut in Imphal as a mark of mourning, even as the opposition Congress questioned the prime minister’s inexplicable silence on Manipur and his refusal to meet Manipuri leaders or visit the state.
Manipur police posted on X, On 04.12.2023, in a gunfight between unknown armed miscreants at Leithao village near Saibol in Tengnoupal district under Machi police station, 13 persons were killed. District police and security forces rushed to the spot. A case has been registered and an investigation is ongoing.
The bodies were brought to Imphal. A senior state government official told ET, Postmortem was done at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) on Tuesday. The families of the 13 victims have chosen to cremate the deceased in Andro, in Imphal East district.
A police officer said that the 13 deceased are suspected new recruits of Manipur’s Valley-based militant outfit, Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA), and its political wing, the Revolutionary Peoples’ Front (RPF).
The deceased have been identified as Maisnam Sanajaob, Konjengbam Medhabanta, Oinam Loken, Ningthoujam Tomba, Mayengbam Rosan Meitei, Moirangthem Kingson Meitei, Chongtham Lamdeinganba, Puthem Ajay Meitei, Shougaijam Krishnakanta Meitei, Thingom Rocky, Chingakham Nethei, Phanjoubam Noren, and Yendrembam Athouba.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday targeted the Modi government over the violence in Manipur and said the situation in the state was far from normal.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Manipur situation.
It has been seven months now. The situation in Manipur continues to be far from normal. Just yesterday came news of a fresh round of violence which took the lives of thirteen people. Earlier, a public sector bank had been looted and some Rs 18 crore carried off, he posted on X.
The home minister claims peace has returned, but ground realities are to the contrary. And of course, the Prime Minister carries on with his inexplicable silence on Manipur, along with his refusal to meet Manipuri leaders or visit the state, Ramesh said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, Who is responsible for the complete demolition of law and order in the state?
Who is responsible for the chief minister brazening it out and sticking to his untenable position? Why has the Peace Committee constituted by the Union Government not done any visible work to restore peace, normalcy, and harmony in Manipur, Kharge asked on X.
The Congress, along with several political parties in Manipur, has demanded that only a detailed discussion with the prime minister can help find a solution to the conflict which is acceptable to all stakeholders, he said.
