IMPHAL, November 13 (Aalimi Nation) – Four people, including two women, were killed on Friday when suspected militants opened fire on two vehicles in Manipur's Ukhrul district, police said.
What police said
A senior police officer said the attack took place in the New Heaven area of Ukhrul district, on the Imphal-Ukhrul road. The two men and two women who were travelling in the two cars died on the spot, the officer said. Bullet marks were seen on the windshields of both vehicles, the police said.
Security forces have launched a manhunt and an investigation is under way. Police have not named the victims or said which community they belonged to. They have also not identified the group behind the attack or given a motive, and no arrests had been reported at the time of writing. The exact time of the attack was not stated, and police did not say whether anyone else was injured.
Official reaction
Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen said she had taken cognisance of the incident and called for a "prompt, thorough and impartial investigation". No further statement from the state government or the Union Home Ministry had been reported.
A day after another killing
The attack came a day after another deadly incident in the state's hill districts. On Thursday morning, a gunfight between rival groups broke out near Taphou Kuki village in Kangpokpi district, with the firing also reported in the Kailengjang area of neighbouring Senapati district. A 42-year-old woman was killed and two men were injured, according to police. Central forces, including the CRPF, the Assam Rifles and the BSF, were deployed in the area. Police have not said whether the two incidents are linked, and it is not known whether the Ukhrul attack is connected to the Kangpokpi gunfight.
Officials and local accounts have said that clashes between the Kuki and Naga communities in the hill districts have left at least 50 people dead since February this year. Separately, the ethnic conflict that began in Manipur in May 2023 has killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands more.
Inquiry into the 2023 violence
Separately, the Centre has extended the tenure of the three-member commission examining the 2023 violence in Manipur by six months. The panel has now been asked to submit its report by May 20 next year. This is the seventh extension granted to the commission, which was set up on June 4, 2023.
The commission is now headed by former Supreme Court judge Balbir Singh Chauhan, who took charge on March 1. He succeeded Ajai Lamba, a former chief justice of the Gauhati High Court, who resigned with effect from February 28.
What is not yet known
Several basic facts about the Ukhrul attack remain unclear. Police have not said how many attackers were involved, whether any of the occupants of the vehicles survived, or whether the cars were travelling together.
