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A mob stormed a police station in Manipur’s Ukhrul town and looted arms during a clash between two groups, officials said . Three persons were killed and 20 others injured in a gunfight that broke out between two groups on Wednesday over cleaning a disputed land in the town as part of ‘Swachhata Abhiyan’.
The police station was attacked when the violence was going on. Prohibitory orders were imposed and mobile internet services were suspended in the town after the clash between two groups of the Naga community.
“After violence broke out in Ukhrul town, a mob comprising mostly of youths stormed the police station located at Wino Bazar and decamped with government weapons,” an official said.
The number and types of weapons looted cannot be immediately confirmed as an investigation is continuing, he added. Unofficial sources, however, claimed that the looted weapons included AK-47 and INSAS rifles. Looting of arms was reported from various police stations in the ethnic-strife-torn state earlier, but in all those cases the areas concerned were dominated by either Meities or Kukis, the two warring communities. This is the first time a police station was stormed in a Naga-majority area, according to a source.
“The Ukhrul police station is located a few metres away from an Assam Rifles camp,” the official said.
According to PTI, Earlier, Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh has said that two Meitei youths allegedly abducted by armed Kuki militants on September 27 from Kangpokpi district have been safely brought back under the custody of state police.
“The two young men abducted in Kangpokpi on 27th September, 2024 have been safely brought back to the custody of @manipur_police. I sincerely appreciate everyone from both the state and central government who worked tirelessly to ensure their safe return. Your efforts are deeply valued,” Biren Singh said in a post on X.
The two young men abducted in Kangpokpi on 27th September, 2024 have been safely brought back to the custody of @manipur_police . I sincerely appreciate everyone from both the state and central government who worked tirelessly to ensure their safe return. Your efforts are deeply…
— N. Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) October 3, 2024
Three youth, who hail from Thoubal district, had gone missing on September 27 while travelling to New Keithelmanbi to attend the SSC GD recruitment test for central forces.
They were allegedly abducted by armed Kuki militants while they strayed to Keithelmanbi, in Kangpokpi district.
One among them, identified as Ningombam Johnson Singh, was rescued by the Assam Rifles, while the other two remained missing.
