The bodies of two elderly men — Laishram Balen and Maibam Kesho — were found in the debris in the Jakuradhor Karong area, where militants had set fire to some shops on Monday.
In another development, prominent tribal bodies on Tuesday gave a call for “non-cooperation” with the CRPF. They claimed that those killed in the Monday’s encounter were not militants but Hmar village volunteers.
Meanwhile, the situation in Jiribam, where the administration had imposed an indefinite curfew on Monday soon after the militants’ attack on a CRPF camp, remained calm but tense with the police patrolling vulnerable points.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) had called for a shutdown on Tuesday in all Kuki-Zo-dominated districts of Manipur as a mark of protest against the encounter. In a statement, the ITLF said the Kuki-Zo community should reconsider labelling the CRPF as a “neutral” central force.
Issuing a directive of non-cooperation with the CRPF, another tribal association Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) said, “No personnel from the paramilitary force shall be allowed to leave their camp... until the CRPF publicly acknowledges and apologises for its ‘barbaric’ actions in Jiribam.” “This will be considered as part of the larger movement of ‘non-cooperation with the CRPF’ within the Kuki-dominated areas, “ the KSO said in a statement.
The ITLF alleged that “last week when Meitei gunmen attacked Zairawn village in Jiribam and killed a Hmar woman, CRPF personnel posted nearby refused to help the villagers and stayed put in their camp as the village was pillaged and burnt”.
They were referring to the November 7 incident when a Hmar woman was allegedly raped, shot and burnt by armed militants, who also torched the village. The incident has been condemned by all tribal bodies and Manipur’s Kuki MLAs, including from the BJP.
“On Monday, the central force went a step further by killing 11 Hmar village volunteers who were on a patrolling duty to sanitise tribal areas in the wake of the Zairawn attack,” said the ITLF statement.
The situation in Jiribam, where the administration had clamped an indefinite curfew on Monday soon after the militants’ attack on a CRPF camp, remained tense with the police patrolling vulnerable points.Another three individuals lost their lives in Manipur's latest outbreak of violence when armed Meitei militia members launched an assault on Kuki tribal residents. The incident, which occurred amid ongoing ethnic clashes in the northeastern Indian state, also resulted in the destruction of seventeen homes and three commercial establishments.
The attack marks a continuation of ethnic conflicts that began in May 2023, which have led to hundreds of casualties and displaced more than 60,000 people across the region. Numerous residential properties, businesses, and places of worship have been destroyed in the prolonged unrest.
The Modi administration's efforts to restore stability in Manipur have shown limited success, as the state continues to grapple with ethnic, linguistic, and religious tensions during the government's third term.
Local authorities are investigating the recent attack, though no arrests have been reported at the time of publication.
