9 killed in fresh violence in Manipur

Nine people were killed Tuesday night amidst incidents of firing and arson in the Aigijang village of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. This is the largest casualty in a single incident in the continuing incidents of violence in the state in the last few weeks.

According to the Superintendent of Police, Imphal East, the incident took place at around 10.30 pm on Tuesday. While Aigijang falls under the Kangpokpi revenue district, it comes under the jurisdiction of Imphal East, lying at the border of these two districts.

While Aigijang is a Kuki village, the nine bodies which were recovered were of Meitei men who were not residents of the village. According to police, these were “local volunteers”.

With firing and violence taking place in this border area since at least Monday, it had seen a massive influx of Meitei men from nearby areas to “defend” the Meitei-dominated parts of this border area.

Following the latest incident, the Imphal East District administration shortened the curfew relaxation period in the district to just a four-hour window in the early hours of the morning. While the curfew relaxation period had been from 5 am to 6 pm, which has now been shortened from 5 am to 9 am.