A police sub-inspector on duty was killed in a sniper attack in Manipur on Wednesday, adding an ominous dimension to the conflict that has been going on for 133 days.
A police officer told The Telegraph that sub-inspector Onkhomang Haokip, 35, from the Kuki community, died of a “bullet injury in the forehead”, inflicted by a suspected sniper.
“He was shot in the forehead while on duty. It seems to be a sniper attack. We suspect the hand of Meitei militants,” the officer said.
The murder comes at a time Kuki organisations have been saying sections of police are biased against the community.
A police statement said Haokip was “martyred in a firing incident by miscreants” at Chingphei village under Morang police station in Bishnupur district, bordering Churachandpur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets a crowd upon his arrival at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the party's central election committee meeting. Modi was given a rousing welcome at the BJP headquarters following the successful G20 meeting under India's presidency. PTI picture
Condemning the incident, the police said Haokip’s last rites would be performed on Thursday at Churachandpur in a “befitting manner”.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised Kuki-Zo tribes in Churachandpur, said the sub-inspector “was shot by Meitei militants using a sniper rifle” on Wednesday afternoon.
He hailed from Tuibong, the district headquarters of Churachandpur, the ITLF said.
Churachandpur is a Kuki-Zo-majority district bordering Bishnupur, a Meitei-dominated district. The inter-district border is where the ongoing conflict between the two communities erupted on May 3 afternoon following a solidarity rally in Churachandpur opposing the Scheduled Tribe demand of the Meiteis.
On Tuesday, three Kuki people travelling in a Gypsy were killed in Kangpokpi district. They were ambushed by a nine-member group wearing police uniforms and armed with automatic weapons, sources said.
The ongoing conflict has left at least 183 dead and over 67,000 displaced from both communities in Manipur.
The ITLF urged the Centre to “crack down on valley insurgent groups and reimpose the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act” in valley areas immediately “since the state government and sections of the police force are openly siding with the majority community”.
Altogether 19 police station areas in Manipur are exempt from the purview of the AFSPA owing to “significant improvement in the security situation”. Of these 19 police stations, 15 have been taken out of the purview since 2022 and four more were exempt in April this year. There are 97 police stations in the state.
On September 9, the N. Biren Singh-led Manipur cabinet had approved the extension of the AFSPA for another six months. The AFSPA gives sweeping powers to the central forces to search, detain and open fire to maintain order in areas declared as disturbed by the government.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a conglomerate of leading Meitei civil society organisations, said on Wednesday that the demand of the ITLF and the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) in Kangpokpi to reimpose the AFSPA in valley areas was “totally absurd” because there was “reasonable peace in all AFSPA-lifted areas of the Manipur valley since long” whereas “violation of law and order” is “highest” in areas where camps of Kuki militants “under suspension of operations” are located.
“Ransom demands and killings are happening in Kuki-dominated areas,” the COCOMI said.
