JIRIBAM: Two days after the bodies of a woman and two children were found, which was suspected to be part of six people missing from Jiribam in Manipur since Monday, another body was recovered on Sunday morning.
The latest body, considered to be that of one of the six missing people, was found in the Barak River of Assam's Cachar district, which lies below where three other bodies had been discovered. Officials are trying to confirm the identities of the dead.
Tensions flared again on Sunday morning in Jiribam after a photograph of the newly discovered body circulated widely. Arson attempts were reported from the Kalinagar area of Jiribam. Internet services in the Jiribam and Pherzawl districts have now been suspended to prevent further unrest.
The town had already witnessed violence on Saturday night. Several abandoned houses of the Hmar community and at least four churches faced acts of vandalism and arson.
The violence traces back to the disappearance of six members of a Meitei family, three women and three children, from Jiribam's Borobekra area. The family, who have been staying in a relief camp at Borobekra police station since violence gripped the region in June, reportedly vanished after being attacked by some armed persons suspected to be Hmar militants.
Security personnel responded to the attack, killing 10 of the armed men. Earlier this week, the bodies of two elderly Meitei men, who were also residents of the relief camp, were found in the same area.
The developments in Jiribam prompted massive protests in Imphal on Saturday. The district has been brought under an indefinite curfew. Protesters damaged several homes belonging to political leaders, including some of the BJP, and torched their vehicles and properties.
Late Saturday night, a mob tried to storm Chief Minister N Biren Singh's private residence at Heingang; they were repelled by security forces with tear gas and blank rounds.
Internet services were shut down for two consecutive days in seven districts, including Imphal East and West, as the authorities tried to check the mass-scale spread of the upheaval. The suspension includes all five districts in the Meitei-majority valley and Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts, which have a Kuki-Zo majority.
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