NEW DELHI — Two elderly men were killed and at least six persons of the same family, including three women and three children, were abducted allegedly by unidentified assailants in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, confirmed a police officer on Wednesday.
The killings and abductions were reported from the Jakuradhor Bazar area in the Jiribam district of the state.
Both the dead and the six missing persons belonged to the Meitei community. It was believed that the attack on them was carried out by the assailants belonging to the Kuki community.
Both the communities have been at loggerheads for quite some time, culminating into a large-scale violence on May 3, 2023. Since then over 200 people have been killed, nearly 70,000 displaced, and many temples, churches and government buildings have been torched and vandalized.
The recent attack on the family came within a few hours of the killings of ten Kuki militants by Indian security forces in an encounter, which reportedly broke out after a group of Kuki militants attacked a local police station and a Central Reserve Police Force camp.
Tension gripped the area after the abduction incident, even as a massive search was launched by the state government to trace the attackers. Meanwhile, a total shutdown has been called in Jiribam and nearby four other districts following the abduction.
XINHUA
