A Manipur police commando was shot dead and five colleagues injured in Bishnupur district and a car was set ablaze in Kangpokpi district on Thursday in a state trying to pick up the pieces after the May 3 violence.
On Wednesday, an Assam Rifles jawan had been shot at during an area-domination exercise in Dolaithabi, about 25km from capital Imphal. The jawan is out of danger.
The two incidents of firing on two consecutive days occurred despite a security beef-up, including the deployment of army and central paramilitary forces.
Manipur education minister T. Basanta said on Thursday evening that unknown people, suspected to be cadres of a rebel group, had fired on a police team around 7am at Moirang in Bishnupur. Heisnam Jiten Singh of the Manipur Rifles was killed and five personnel were injured. The injured are in hospital.
Basanta said that around 9.30am, 180 goods trucks, including 28 Indian Oil Corporation trucks, were blocked at Hengbung in Kangpokpi district by a large crowd. A car was set ablaze and mobs blocked National Highway 2 at several places in Kangpokpi with tyres, logs and big stones.
The firing in Bishnupur, close to its border with Churachandpur, the district worst affected by the ethnic violence, and the arson in Kangpokpi indicate the situation in Manipur remains volatile.
The violence began on May 3 after a students' organisation held a march against the demand from the majority Meitei community for Scheduled Tribe status. At least 68 people have died and 236 have been injured so far. Thousands have been displaced.
Sources said on Thursday that civil society organisations in Kangpokpi believe that only a separate political administration can ensure lasting peace. Kangpokpi is a Kuki-dominated district, its borders about 30km from Imphal.
The army had said on Wednesday that it had, along with the Assam Rifles, “significantly re-engineered” the security architecture and that numerous resources had been "infused" in Manipur.
Altogether 128 army and Assam Rifles columns, unmanned aerial vehicles and other 24x7 aerial surveillance assets had been deployed in sufficient numbers to restore normality, the army had said.
