Army soldier injured in unprovoked firing in Manipur

PTI, Jun 19, 2023, 2:07 PM IST

An Army soldier sustained gunshot wounds in his left leg after unidentified men resorted to unprovoked firing in Manipur’s Imphal West district around 11.45pm on Sunday.

An official said the soldier was evacuated to the military hospital at Leimakhong and is said to be stable.

The official added the incident took place at Kanto Sabal village adjoining Leimakhong (Chingmang).

Soon after the incident, Army Columns resorted to controlled retaliatory fire keeping in view presence of villagers in the area.

Unidentified men also set three houses on fire in Chinmang village, which was later doused by the Army.

After a couple of hours of calm, unprovoked firing started again from Kanto Sabal village around 2.35am and continued till 3am, the official added. More than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki community people in Manipur that broke out over a month ago.

The state government had imposed a curfew on 11 districts and banned internet services in a bid to stop the spread of rumours in the state.

Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals – Nagas and Kukis – constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.