Manipur: Miscreants Burn Down UCM Office in Lamphel

Sentinel Digital Desk

Published:24th Feb, 2024 at 10:49 AM

IMPHAL: In a fresh spat of violence, a group of unidentified miscreants allegedly burned down the United Committee Manipur (UCM) office in Lamphel under the Imphal West district.

The incident occurred in the wee hours of Saturday.

Meanwhile, police have initiated an investigation to identify the miscreants.

As per reports, the incident took place after a blast was reported from outside the DM College at Thangmeiband in Imphal West on Friday.

Following the incident, one person was killed while two were severely injured. The deceased has been identified as Oinam Kenegy (24).

The injured persons were rushed to the hospital for medical assistance while the dead body was sent for postmortem reports.

Police are taking stock of the situation while no groups have claimed responsibility for the blast so far. However, the type of explosive used in the blast is yet to be identified.

On Friday, a leading Manipur tribal body strongly protested against the transfer of more than 100 Kuki-Zo tribal police personnel to Meitei-majority areas and sought the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the matter.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), an apex body of tribals in Manipur, wrote to Amit Shah seeking his intervention in the transfer of Kuki-Zo police personnel in the Meitei-dominated areas.

Senior ITLF leader and spokesman Ginza Vualzong said that given the prevailing situation, such transfers are unacceptable.

The ITLF, in its letter to Amit Shah, urged the minister to immediately intervene to stop the execution of this "discriminatory order" issued by the Manipur DGP. It said the violence in Manipur has led to a mass exchange of population on ethnic lines, leading to a complete physical separation of communities.

It added that the Central and state security forces personnel belonging to the Kuki-Zo community are not safe either.

The ethnic trouble between the non-tribal Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities broke out on May 3 last year. So far, the ethnic violence has claimed over 200 lives and injured 1,500 others, besides displacing over 70,000 people belonging to both communities.