Photo Courtesy: Representative Image
Imphal: "Four Naga villagers were reportedly killed in an attack at Makui, Manipur. Villagers accuse Kuki militants; two bodies remained unrecovered, amid allegations of mutilation."
Four residents of Makui village were killed in an attack that began before dawn on Friday, villagers said, in one of the deadliest single assaults on a Naga settlement in Manipur's hill districts in recent months.
Two of the bodies have been recovered. The remaining two were still lying at the attack site in the Chamriupieu area of the village at the time of filing, with residents saying they came under fire each time they attempted to retrieve them. Two injured villagers were evacuated to Senapati for treatment; their names and the severity of their injuries were not known at the time of publication.
Villagers named one of the dead as Ajinpou Ringkangmai, identified by his family. The identities of the other three victims had not been confirmed by their families at the time of publication. Kangpokpi police had not officially confirmed the toll.
A video circulating on social media, which residents say was recorded at or near the attack site, shows several men carrying assault rifles and speaking in what villagers identified as the Kuki dialect. In the background of the footage, the severed head of a man is visible. Family members and residents identified the victim as Ringkangmai, and said his head remains in the custody of the attackers. Newire has not independently verified the video's authenticity, location or date of recording and is not publishing or linking to the footage. The original has been forwarded to investigating authorities.
Residents said the assault began around 4 a.m. and described the attackers as heavily armed. Villagers identified the group as Kuki militants, and several said some of the men appeared to be cadres of groups bound by the Suspension of Operations agreement with the state and central governments. Newire could not independently verify the identity of the attackers.
"The CRPF at Makui Naga village refused to go to the spot to retrieve the remaining mortal remains," said a villager, a resident of Makui. Newire has contacted the CRPF and the Kangpokpi district administration for comment on the allegation. No response had been received at the time of publication.
Residents also alleged that the attackers flew a drone over the village in the hours before the assault, a claim that, if verified, would point to a marked escalation in tactics among armed groups in the region.
Friday's attack follows months of assaults on Naga-inhabited villages in and around Kangpokpi that residents attribute to Kuki armed groups.
Makui is a Naga-inhabited village in Kangpokpi district. An attack of this scale and the alleged mutilation of a victim's body carries a high risk of retaliatory violence, and the coming days will test whether district authorities can recover the remaining bodies and establish who carried out the assault.
With reporting from Makui village. This story will be updated as Kangpokpi police, the CRPF and the district administration respond.
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