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Sources with the police identified the victim as Mangthang Haokip. They said the attack took place around 4.30 pm at Khonomphai village under the Henglep Sub-division.
The chief of a tribal village in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, who was allegedly subjected to brutal assault by armed men, succumbed to his injuries within hours on Monday. While the motive behind the assault is not yet clear, the police have registered a case in connection with the incident.
Sources with the police identified the victim as Mangthang Haokip. They said the attack took place around 4.30 pm at Khonomphai village under the Henglep Sub-division.
The assailants are suspected to be members of the United Kuki National Army (UKNA), sources with various security agencies indicated. UKNA is not a signatory to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement signed between Kuki militants and the Government of India.
According to the police, following the assault, Haokip was carried to the nearest village, Khaopijang, from where he was to be transported to the district hospital in Churachandpur. However, he was declared dead on arrival at Khaopijang. The body was subsequently taken back to his village.
The Henglep Headquarters Area Chiefs’ Association condemned Monday’s incident, terming it “unfortunate”, at a time when the community has been undergoing “untold hardship owing to ethnic clashes over the last two years”.
In June this year, at least four people, including an elderly woman, were killed in an ambush carried out by the UKNA in the district. Among those killed is a leader of the Kuki National Organisation/Kuki National Army (KNO/KNA).
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