In a shocking incident from Manipur, men from the Meitei Hindu community, out to collect firewood, were shot dead by suspected Kuki terrorists. Three bodies, from the group of 4, were found yesterday in Bishnupur district while the fourth person is still missing. The deceased were identified as Oinam Romen Meitei aka Romen Singh (38), Thoudam Ibomcha Meitei aka Ibomcha Singh (51) and his son, Thoudam Anand Meitei aka Anand Singh (27). Police is searching for the fourth member of the group, Ahanthem Dara Meitei aka Dara Singh.

The group of four had been missing since Wednesday afternoon from their village Kumbi Haotak, which is close to the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district’s border with Kuki-Zomi dominated Churachandpur district. They had ventured into the nearby hills to gather firewood and did not return, after which a missing report was filed at a police station. All of them used to collect firewood from Meichakpi Hills every day, locals claimed. The three bodies were recovered from a foothill area around 2 kilometres from their village.

Photos showing two of the deceased were shared widely on social media, and their deaths were seen being celebrated in some suspected Kuki social media groups/accounts with taunting text like ‘firewood thieves (sic) who died today. Welcome to NRC my meitei brothers”.

While Meiteis and Nagas have been demanding NRC in Manipur to identify and deport illegal immigrants such as the Chin from Myanmar, many Kuki-Zo groups have been opposing it as they value ethno-religious ties with fellow Christian Chin more than Bharatiya law.

Heart-rending footage of the grief-stricken family of the murdered Meitei father-son duo also emerged on social media.

In another distressing video, a Hindu Meitei woman is seen lying down in a rice field with her small son to escape bullets being fired by Kuki terrorists. That incident reportedly took place in Kumbi village in Bishnupur district. Such attacks on peripheral villages of Imphal Valley by the Kuki-Chin terrorists (including foreign insurgents) who occupy the surrounding hills are routine, say locals.

An activist and researcher on X named @VladAdiReturns made the startling claim that the Meitei men were tracked via drones by the Kuki terrorist groups, many of whom are believed to be operating in full violation of the Suspension-of-Operation (SOO) agreements they have signed with the Government of India. The activist shared a photo of a donation receipt dated 7 June 2023 issued by the notorious Kuki-Zo group ‘Indigenous Tribal Leader’s Forum (ITLF)’ for an amount of Rs 3,90,000/ towards ‘financial assistant (sic) to ITLF Defence Dept’. The receipt is signed by someone who calls himself ‘Convener, Drone Dept.’ This money was allegedly used by ITLF to procure drones.

ITLF is said to be one of the main groups behind the violent protests (against proposal to grant ST status to Meiteis) from April last year which have led to the current state of civil war in Manipur.

The activist also raised 3 more piercing questions to the central govt. 1)Why are these terrorists being allowed to operate freely threatening our Act-East policy and Kaladan Projects? 2) Why are 25 Kuki terrorist groups getting a monthly stipend from our taxpayer money? 3) Why are there no full scale military operations against them and their sympathisers?

In other news, more violence erupted in Manipur on Wednesday in the Bishnupur district. A firing incident occurred between Kumbi in Bishnupur and Wangoo in Thoubal. Six rounds of mortar firing took place before firing from small firearms ensued, according to a local report.