A soldier of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed and two police personnel were injured in action on Sunday after a joint patrol with the state police was ambushed by “suspected Kuki insurgents” in Manipur’s Jiribam district, the police said in a statement.
“Firing incident in Jiribam today – Today, i.e., 14.07.2024 at around 0900 hrs, a team of Manipur Police and CRPF, while carrying out checking of security forces deployment, area domination and enquiry into last night firing incident at Mongbung village, Jiribam, was fired upon heavily with sophisticated weapons by suspected to be armed Kuki militants from multiple locations. The security forces also retaliated and encounter ensued for 15-20 minutes,” Manipur Police stated on X.
The police said the joint patrol came under heavy fire from the suspected insurgents in the district bordering Assam. The CRPF soldier was inside a patrol SUV when the suspected insurgents opened fire.
Visuals of the ambush site shows the SUV with several bullet holes and a shattered rear windshield. Two police commandos who were inside the vehicle were also hit.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in a post on X condemned the attack by who he called “suspected Kuki militants”.
Before today’s ambush, tension in Jiribam had been high in recent weeks following clashes between the Meitei community and the Hmar tribes.
The district didn’t see violence for over a year since Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes began in May 2023; however, clashes erupted in Jiribam last month, forcing over a thousand people from both communities to live in relief camps, some in neighbouring Assam.
The CRPF jawan who was shot dead was identified as Ajay Kumar Jha (43), a native of Bihar. His body was taken for post-mortem to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital. His killing comes around three months after two CRPF personnel were killed in a blast at a CRPF outpost in Bishnupur district.