Imphal, Nov. 9: A migrant hawker, who was shot by two unidentified gunmen at Lamlai bazaar of Imphal East yesterday, died of his injuries in a private hospital here last night.

Shankar Sahu, 24, was attacked while he was going to Lamlai market to sell biscuits and other items as he usually did for the past four years.

The hawker went there by bus despite appeals from the government to migrants not to venture out of the city and go to remote places.

Police today picked up a migrant who was hawking biscuits in the Pangei area of Imphal East and sent him back to the capital city on a bus. The police feared that he could also be targeted if he continued to carry on his business in the area.

With this, the number of migrants killed in the valley areas since October 31 has risen to three and 25 since February this year. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, though the police suspectthe hand of militant groups.

Relatives of Sahu, who was from Bihar, today cremated his body at Minuthong. The relatives and some migrants living in Imphal city tried to take out a funeral procession but the police persuaded them not to do so.

A police van picked up the body and the relatives and took them to the government crematorium.

The latest attacks have created a fear psychosis among the migrants living in different parts of the valley districts. At least 15 of them, originally from Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand, are taking shelter in Imphal city’s Dharmasala, a lodge run and managed by the city’s business community.

The state government is supplying them food. An official source said migrants from Bishnupur, Imphal West and Imphal East districts have been coming steadily to the lodge since November 2.