30 insurgents shot dead in Manipur by security forces, says CM Biren Singh

Military personnel were deployed in the violence-affected regions of Manipur.

As many as 30 insurgents, who fired at unarmed civilians, have been shot dead by security forces in Manipur, said N Biren Singh, the chief minister of the violence-hit northeastern state, on May 28.

Singh, while speaking to newspersons in Imphal, stressed that the deceased persons were "shooting at unarmed civilians". "I won't call them Kuki militants. They are Kuki terrorists," NDTV quoted him as saying. The state has been on the edge for more than a month due to the clashes that erupted between the Kuki tribe and the Meitei community.

The latest round of clashes, however, did not erupt between the two communities but between Kuki insurgents and security forces, Singh noted.

Sources told NDTV that the insurgents, who were gunned down by the security personnel, had attacked five areas - Sekmai, Sugnu, Kumbi, Phayeng and Serou - that are located around the Imphal Valley, at around 2 am.

"In retaliatory and defensive operations against these terrorist groups who are using sophisticated arms against the civilian population, around 30 of these terrorists have been killed in different areas. A few have also been arrested by the security forces," news agency ANI quoted the chief minister as saying.

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A senior security official told news agency PTI that the house of BJP MLA Khwairakpam Raghumani Singh at Uripok in Imphal West was vandalised and his two vehicles were set on fire in the fresh violence that broke out.

The official also said that clashes broke out in the early hours of the morning at several places in different districts surrounding the Imphal Valley.

"According to our information, firing has been reported from Sugnu in Kakching, Kangvi in Churachandpur, Kangchup in Imphal West, Sagolmang in Imphal East, Nungoipokpi in Bishenpur, Khurkhul in Imphal West and YKPI in Kangpokpi," he said.

New roadblocks have also sprung up in areas manned by women. There was also an unconfirmed report of arms being looted from Kakching police station by a Meitei group, the official said.

Ethnic clashes which have claimed over 75 lives first broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

Meiteis account for about 53 percent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 percent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

Around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the state.