Jiribam killings: Manipur protesters defy curfew, lock govt offices

Imphal: Defying curfew orders, a group of people led by members of COCOMI on Monday locked the front doors of several government offices in Imphal West district to protest the recent killing of three women and three children in Jiribam, officials said.

Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) is an influential organisation of the Meitei community, the majority ethnic group in the Imphal Valley region that comprises five districts including Imphal West.

The Manipur government on Monday also extended the suspension of internet services by two more days till Wednesday in seven districts of the northeastern state.

Raising slogans demanding justice for the victims and their families killed by suspected tribal militants in Jiribam district, the protesters stormed into the office complex of the Chief Electoral Officer at Lamphelpat and locked its main entrance door with chains and locks, officials said.

The main office doors of the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) at Takyel, and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics located a few hundred metres from the CEO's office were also locked by the protesters.

Meanwhile, the indefinite sit-in staged by COCOMI at Khwairamband market in Imphal demanding a military crackdown against “Kuki Zo Hmar” militants in the state entered its third day.

Film personality Laimayum Surjakanta who attended the protest said, “We will not tolerate this barbaric killing of three women and three children by Kuki Hmar militants in Jiribam. The Centre needs to take action. Those who killed the innocent woman and children must be arrested immediately."

Manipur has seen a fresh wave of protests after six people went missing from a camp for displaced persons in Jiribam on November 11, following a gunfight between armed men and security forces that resulted in the deaths of 10 Kuki youths.

On Sunday, the bodies of two persons, believed to be among the six missing people from Jiribam, were found floating in the Barak river in neighbouring Cachar district of Assam.

The bodies of three persons, also from the same group, were found floating in the Jiri river in Jiribum on Friday and brought to Silchar Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examinations.

According to senior police officer officers of Assam, bodies of five missing persons have been found so far.

Curfew was imposed for an indefinite period in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching districts of Imphal Valley on November 16 "due to developing law and order situation", he said.

The state administration on Monday extended the suspension of internet and mobile data services in the Imphal Valley and two other districts - Kangpokpi and Churachandpur - after reviewing the law and order for two more days till 5.15 pm of November 20, according to an order.

The suspension shall not apply to lease lines and broadband connections to government offices or any case whereby the state government grants exemption, the order said.

The service was initially suspended from November 16 for two days.

More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis in Manipur since May last year.