One person was killed and three others injured during a gun battle in Manipur on Sunday, escalating tensions in the region following Friday night’s deadly attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Bishnupur district.
The gunfight erupted in the early hours of Sunday between two groups of village volunteers from conflicting communities in the Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The deceased was identified as Lammang Kipgen (44), a member of the Kuki-Zo tribal community, according to the Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO). Details about the injured individuals were not immediately available.
In a statement, the KSO described Kipgen as a father of five who bravely volunteered to defend his community in one of the region’s most volatile areas. The organisation lamented the “incessant attacks” unleashed by the enemy in the Leimakhong area, resulting in Kipgen and his fellow volunteers being subjected to a barrage of bullets, ultimately leading to his fatal injury around 2:30 am.
Following Kipgen’s death, the Committee on Tribal Unity issued a call for a 12-hour “total shutdown” across the entire Sadar Hills Kangpokpi region, denouncing the “unprovoked attack” and demanding justice.
The incident comes in the aftermath of the CRPF camp attack, which claimed the lives of Sub-inspector Nizamuddin Sarkar from Assam and head constable Arup Saini from West Bengal, with two other jawans sustaining injuries.
The recent escalation in violence adds to the ongoing ethnic tensions in Manipur, which erupted on May 3 last year, resulting in 219 casualties and displacing over 60,000 individuals, according to official records.