An ambulance escorting an injured child to the hospital with police personnel was set on fire by a mob on Sunday in Manipur’s capital Imphal. The victims include a Meitei woman married to a Kuki man, her son and her relative, reported The Indian Express, citing police officials.

An FIR was registered by the police under sections pertaining to murder on that night. The incident took place in Imphal West’s Iroisemba area, under the jurisdiction of Lamphel police station.

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As per a senior police officer from the station, the vehicle was charred around 7 pm Sunday, reports IE.

Violence broke out on May 3, 2023 in Manipur after a conflict between the Meitei and Kuki tribes. Since then,the reports of violence have emerged in various districts of Manipur.

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The victims were identified by the residents of Kangchup Chingkok village in Kangpokpi district as Meena Hangsing, her son Tomshing and Meena’s relative Lydia Lourembam.

Gin hangsing, a relative of the victims and a resident of the Kangchup village claims three victims were heading to the regional Institute of Medical sciences after the child was injured with a bullet injury to the head in a firing which took place on Sunday.

“The women and children of our village had been staying at an Assam Rifles outpost nearby for the past month while the men had been doing village defense work. On Sunday, Tomshing was shot in the head from afar – it could have been a stray bullet or aimed at him, we don’t know,” he said.

The Kangchup area has become the site of large-scale violence between the two tribes in the second wave of violence across Manipur. The Kangchup village includes a majority of Kuki tribes and shares Kangpokpi district border with imphal west, close to the Phayeng village of Meitei tribe.

Another relative, Champi Hangsing said since the family belonged to the Meiteis. “They thought that since they are Metiei, nothing will happen to them as they travel through the valley. They left in three vehicles – the ambulance, and two vehicles with Manipur police personnel who escorted them,” he said.

Along with the three victims, a male nurse accompanying them in the ambulance said, “I got a call from the proprietor of our company to pick up a patient from the Assam Rifles post at Kangchup. I, along with a driver, rushed to evacuate the patient. We were told they were Meiteis. As soon as we reached there, we picked up two ladies and a boy who had a head injury. His condition was serious. On our way to the hospital, we were escorted by the district police.”

“When we reached Iroisemba, we were stopped by a mob and totally surrounded. The driver and I were pulled out of the vehicle and taken to a club nearby. The police were outnumbered. They did not fire to disperse the crowd. It was around 6.30 pm. We were kept at a club for about two hours,” he added.