Imphal: Heavily armed militants killed at least two Naga village volunteers and injured two others at Langka village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on Friday, police said.
A police official said that the slain Naga Village Volunteers, who were also farmers, have been identified as Wiriliangbou Chawang (35) and Kawidinang Abonmai (54), while the injured persons are Maliangjinang Abonmai (50) and Namthiulungbou Prinmai (45).
According to the police, Langka Naga tribal inhabited village is located along the Kangpokpi-Tamenglong district.
Several Naga tribal organisations, including the Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) and the Liangmai Naga Council, Manipur (LNC-M), strongly condemned the incident and accused Kuki militants of being behind the attack.
In protest against the killings, the LNC-M declared an immediate and indefinite emergency total shutdown across all Liangmai Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur until further notice.
The organisation said that all shops, markets, government and non-government offices, institutions and non-essential activities would remain closed in solidarity with the victims.
Only emergency and essential services, including medical, fire and other emergency response services, would be exempted from the shutdown.
The TNL, in a separate statement, claimed that armed Kuki cadres backed by the Kuki National Front (KNF) and the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) carried out the attack, killing two innocent farmers and injuring two others.
The Naga body alleged that as many as 50 cadres, led by KNF leader Jangboi Kipgen along with KRA cadres, laid an ambush and launched the deadly attack on Langka village.
The armed offensive on Friday occurred days after abandoned houses in Kailenjang were set ablaze by the Kuki themselves while falsely blaming the Nagas for the incident on August 10, the TNL said.
It added that cadres of the KNF and KRA, both groups under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Union government, were rampantly engaging in armed violence against the Nagas after Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh issued a 15-day deadline for armed volunteers to surrender their weapons.
The armed Kuki groups have been deliberately and strategically taking advantage of the situation to target the Nagas, the TNL alleged.
The organisation said: “In view of the developing situation, we demand that the state and Central governments must rein in and initiate necessary action against the Kuki militants under the SoO agreement, the armed Kuki villagers, the Kuki narco-terrorists and the illegal migrants from causing terror against the peace-loving Nagas.”
(IANS)
