Guwahati: Two migrant laborers from Bihar were killed by unidentified gunmen, while an 18-year-old militant was shot dead by police after a brief exchange of fire in violence-hit Manipur on Saturday.
Police said the workers – identified as Sunlal Kumar, 18, and Dashrath Kumar, 17 – were traveling on bicycles when they were shot at Keirak in Kakching district in the evening. Both were residents of Rajwahi village in Gopalganj district of Bihar.
The killings are the second deadly attack on migrant workers since caste violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year. In May this year, unidentified assailants shot dead a 41-year-old migrant laborer and injured two fellow laborers in Imphal. He was a resident of Godda district of Jharkhand. The shooting in Thoubal district took place near Salungpham High School in Salungpham Maning Likai.
7 armed militants of the valley opened fire police commando
Seven armed terrorists of Imphal Valley-based banned group PREPAK opened fire on a team of police commandos. Police overpowered the group and arrested seven people, one of whom was found shot. Laishram Prem died in a hospital in Imphal.
The youth was missing since August 13 and his family had lodged a police report. Police said he had joined PREPAK and was living in Kakching Khunou. Two INSAS rifles, one Amogh rifle, one .303 rifle, one SLR rifle, 135 mixed bullets and five mobile phones were seized from the militants. Police suspect that the weapons seized were part of those stolen from their armory during the early stages of ethnic unrest.
More than 250 people have lost their lives since the conflict began, nearly 60,000 people have been displaced, and deep divisions have emerged between the Kuki-Zo tribal communities in the hill districts and the Meitei population in the Imphal Valley.
