3 shot, 5 hurt in Manipur’s Thoubal, curfew clamped again in 5 districts

Imphal, January 1

Three persons were allegedly shot dead and five others injured in Manipur’s Thoubal district on Monday evening, following which curfew was reimposed in five districts, officials said.

Gunmen, who are yet to be identified, arrived in the Lilong Chingjao area, and opened fire on a few locals, they said. The injured were taken to hospital and the condition of some of them was stated to be critical, the officials said. The attackers had come “to extort money” from a person in the locality, which led to an altercation, an official said. They were later chased away by the locals, but the miscreants “opened fire while fleeing”, he said.

After the attack, the enraged locals set afire four vehicles in which the attackers had arrived.

Following the fresh violence, curfew was reimposed in Thoubal, Imphal East and Imphal West, Kakching and Bishnupur districts, officials said.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh condemned the violence, and appealed to the people, particularly residents of Lilong, to maintain peace.

“The police are working to arrest those behind the attack,” he said. Over 180 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3.