Three Killed in Fresh Violence in Manipur

IMPHAL:
Three persons including a father-son duo were killed by militants in Manipur’s Bishnupur district late night on Friday, police said. The three were gunned down while they were sleeping and later slashed with swords at Kwakta in the district, police said on Saturday morning, adding that the assailants came from Churachandpur.

“The three used to stay in a relief camp but had moved to their residences in Kwakta on Friday after the situation had improved,” police said. Soon after the incident, an irate mob gathered at Kwakta and wanted to head towards Churachandpur but was stopped by security personnel, police said.

“Heavy exchange of fire between state forces and militants was going on at nearby Phougakchao and in the vicinity of Kwakta,” they said. On August 4, Manipur police said a joint security force conducted an operation in the Koutruk hill range and destroyed as many as seven illegal bunkers.
Meanwhile, the 24-hour general strike called by the co-ordinating committee of 27 assembly constituencies in Manipur on Saturday paralysed normal life in Imphal Valley, with markets and business establishments remaining shut in almost all localities.