Assam Rifles soldier fires at six colleagues, kills himself

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 24

An Assam Rifles soldier opened fire at six of his colleagues and then shot himself dead in Manipur on Tuesday night. The authorities later clarified that the incident was not related to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur. The incident took place in south Manipur, near the Myanmar border.

A police official said a soldier of the Assam Rifles opened fire on his colleagues, injuring six of them, and later shot himself and subsequently succumbed to his injuries. All injured have been rushed to Military Hospital and are reported to be stable now.

The Manipur Police posted a statement from Assam Rifles’ PRO on X, saying: “There has been an incident of firing by an Assam Rifles jawan in a battalion deployed close to the Indo-Myanmar border in south Manipur. One Assam Rifles jawan opened fire at his colleagues, injuring six of them (all injured are non-Manipuris); later the individual shot himself.”

“In light of the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur, it is important to share the details of the incident to dispel any potential rumours and avoid any speculation. This incident should not be correlated with the ongoing conflict, given the fact that the injured are not from Manipur,” the statement said further.

Meanwhile, the Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei radical group allegedly at the forefront of the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, on Wednesday is learnt to have sought a pledge from MLAs across the state’s Imphal valley to “convey the concerns of the people” to the Centre.

The group, with which the Union Home Ministry’s three-member team has held two rounds of talks since reaching Manipur on January 22, had asked all MLAs to assemble at Kangla Fort.

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