IMPHAL, Oct 29: Villagers alleged that armed miscreants launched fresh attacks at villages in the fringe areas of the valley district on Saturday night, reports said on Sunday.
No casualty was reported in the multiple attacks on at least five villages in Imphal East district bordering Kangpokpi district on Saturday night, the reports also said.
However, the villagers had to flee for their lives when the security forces stationed nearby did not respond to the firings by the armed miscreants from the hill ranges.
Related Posts:
Reports said that the armed miscreants fired indiscriminately toward Sabungkhok Khunou, Yainganpokpi, Santi Khongbal, Thamnapokpi and Chanung villages under Lamlai Police Station of Imphal East district.
The villagers further alleged that the attacks were launched from the hill ranges of Tuiching, Phaimol, Yaingangpokpi, Uyok Ching and Natum Ching simultaneously at around 10 pm on Saturday night.
Of the five villages under attacks, only a few male members are staying at Sabungkhok Khunou, Yainganpokpi, Santi Khongbal, Thamnapokpi as they are currently taking shelter at various relief camps opened in Imphal and houses of their relatives following repeated attacks since the outbreak of the ethnic clash on May 3 last, the reports added.
However, the residents of Chanung had to flee after the armed miscreants rained bullets toward their village on Saturday night.
They stayed at safer places the night when no police or security forces intervened to flush out the armed miscreants, the villagers alleged.
“We did inform the central security forces stationed here but, they did nothing to repel the attacking Kukis,” the villagers told reporters today.
They also informed the police outpost at Yaingangpokpi. They too avoided visiting the villages to enquire what had happened even after the firing ceased, the villagers went on to allege.
They said that after the deployment of central security forces in the fringe areas along with assurances from the authorities concerned, no armed village volunteer was stationed in the villages during the fresh attacks last night.
The villagers demanded withdrawal of the central security forces from their villages if they fail to meant protect them.
While claiming that they observed the coming up of new bunkers along the hill ranges in the last few weeks, the villagers suspected that the armed miscreants were planning to launch fresh attacks against their villages to prevent them from harvesting their paddy crops.
The fresh attacks on the villages in the fringe areas of valley districts came up at a time, the police and security forces including Army and paramilitary forces were conducting combing operations to recover illegal arms and armed looted from the state police and security forces at the initial stage of the outbreak of the violence.
Recently, caches of arms, ammunition, explosives and warlike stores were recovered in the joint operations in the fringe and vulnerable areas.
Today also, the operations were conducted in the fringe and vulnerable areas of Bishnupur and Imphal West districts, a police source said, adding that there was no instance of recovery of illegal items during the operations for the day.
The police, however, recovered a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives during a joint operation with the Central forces at Phougakchao Ikhai and Kolbung village near Khuga River bank on Saturday.
The recovered items included one SMG carbine with a magazine loaded with seven live rounds, one country made 9 mm pistol without magazine and 10 hand grenades without detonators. (NNN)
