Normal life partially hit in Manipur’s Kangpokpi as tribal body calls 48-hour shutdown

Normal life was partially affected in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on November 13 business establishments remained closed during a 48-hour shutdown called by a tribal organisation to protest the killing of a woman in a gunfight between rival groups.

Buses and autorickshaws stayed off the roads, causing inconvenience to commuters.

The Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) called the shutdown from midnight on November 12 following a gunfight near Taphou Kuki village on Thursday morning. The organisation said educational institutions, medical services and other emergency services would remain exempt from the shutdown.

A COTU functionary demanded the withdrawal of all central and state security forces from Kangpokpi, particularly those operating under the command of the Senapati district Superintendent of Police. He alleged that the security arrangements under the Senapati SP had failed to ensure the safety of residents.

A 42-year-old Kuki woman was shot dead, while two men sustained injuries, when a gunfight broke out between rival groups near Taphou Kuki village in Kangpokpi and Kailengjang in neighbouring Senapati district around 11 am on Thursday.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence between the valley-based Meitei and hill-based Kuki communities since May 2023. The conflict has claimed at least 306 lives, left 49 people missing and displaced thousands.

At least 50 people have also been killed in clashes between Kuki and Naga groups in the hill districts since February this year.