Last rites of five people gunned down in Manipur performed

Imphal: The last rites of five persons who were gunned down by cadres of the proscribed Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) were performed at Lilong Chingjao in Manipur's Thoubal district on Thursday.

Religious and civil rights leaders who attended the rituals appealed to people not to make provocative statements on social media which could offend other communities. They said legal action would be taken against those who make such remarks.

Earlier, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed in connection with the killings decided to take the bodies for final rites after the state government agreed to an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh to the seriously injured, and Rs 1 lakh to those who sustained minor injuries, according to officials.

JAC convener Md Habibullah told reporters that the state government had assured them of providing jobs to the next of kin of the deceased.

In an official notification, the state government also announced the formation of a six-member special investigation team headed by SDPO Yairipok Md Riyajuddin Shah to probe the killings.

Four persons were killed and 10 sustained injuries in Thoubal district’s Lilong Chingjao when RPF members opened fire on a few locals on Monday. One person succumbed to injuries on Tuesday.

Members of the RPF had come "to extort money" from a person in the locality, which led to an altercation followed by the shooting, an official said.

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

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

More than 180 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May last year.