On Wednesday, militants attacked several security installations simultaneously in Manipur’s Moreh township, which borders Myanmar. Two police commandos were killed and three others were injured in the attack, which involved rocket-propelled grenades and nonstop gunfire. Tengnoupal district, the scene of Manipur’s worst violence since the end of the previous year, was the backdrop against which the tragedy took place. Several houses there were on fire.
IMPHAL: In a repeat of their shock-and-awe attack, militants launched simultaneous attacks on several security outposts in Manipur’s Moreh township, which borders Myanmar, early on Wednesday. Two police commandos were killed and three others were wounded.
In the conflict-torn township of Tengnoupal district, the heart of violence in Manipur since the end of last year, several buildings were on fire as part of a concerted onslaught that included rocket-propelled grenades and ceaseless gunfire.
According to sources, two fire engines from nearby Myanmar crossed the border and put out the fires that were consuming residences at Kanan Veng in Moreh Ward 3 and another group of homes close to Moreh Hospital.
Many women protested in the streets of Imphal as word of the fatalities spread, accusing the BJP-led government of failing to stop the militants who were constantly targeting security troops in the slum.
Police halted some of them as they tried to attack the mansions of Governor Anusuiya Uikey and Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
The attacks happened the day after two Moreh locals, Philip Khongsai and Hemkholal Mate, were remanded in detention for nine days for the murder of subdivisional police officer Chingtham Anand last year.
Havildar Takhellambam Saileshwor of the 1st India Reserve Battalion was one of the dead commandos. He was the custodian for the Manipur Police Sports Club team and was from Lamsang in the Imphal West division. Wangkhem Somorjit Meitei of the 6 Bn of the Manipur Rifles was the other casualty.
Around nine in the morning, while on a group video call, our uncle Saileshwor informed us that his group was being attacked in Moreh, with gunfire and bombs coming from all directions. According to him, one of his comrades was hurt prior to the conversation concluding,” stated Prashanta Takhellambam, the late commando’s nephew.
After a hiatus, he had departed home for Moreh on January 5, according to Prashanta.
Residents of Malom formed a joint action committee to protest Somorjit’s killing, however the committee agreed not to accept his remains until the government apprehended those accountable for his death.
The home department requested helicopter support from the Centre in response to a “emergency requirement” that arose in Moreh. “The law-and-order situation in the border town has become a matter of serious concern,” Home Commissioner T Ranjit wrote in a letter to MHA.