A truck driver from Bengal was killed and a policeman injured on Friday when unidentified gunmen ambushed a convoy of around 13 goods trucks carrying essentials from Imphal to Manipur’s Naga-majority Ukhrul district amid escalating tensions between the Naga and Kuki-Zo communities.
The attack comes amid the continuing hostage crisis involving six Nagas and 14 Kuki-Zo civilians abducted by armed groups from Kangpokpi and Senapati districts on May 13, hours after three Kuki-Zo church leaders were killed in an ambush.
Sources in Imphal said the gunmen attacked the convoy, including two oil tankers, along National Highway-202 between Leingangching and TM Kasom under Litan police station in Ukhrul district around 10am. The highway is considered the lifeline linking Imphal and Ukhrul. A joint team of police and central forces was escorting the trucks, which had reportedly remained stranded in Imphal for over a week.
The ambush site was about 6km from Shangkai, a Kuki village, where security forces had fired tear gas shells around 9am to disperse protesters enforcing a road blockade as part of the shutdown called by the Kuki Inpi Manipur against the killing of the church leaders and the continuing hostage crisis. At least two women protesters were injured, one of them critically, a Kuki organisation said.
Sources said the attackers opened fire from atop a hill, killing truck driver Nitish Das on the spot. Das, who was in his sixties, hailed from Bengal’s Hooghly district.
The injured policeman was identified as constable Disingam Maringmei, 34, from Sangaiprou in Imphal West. He sustained bullet injuries on his knees during the exchange of fire and was shifted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal. He was reported to be out of danger.
Officials are yet to identify the group behind the attack.
This was the second ambush along NH-202 in Ukhrul district since April 18, when Tangkhul Naga civilians S.W. Chinaoshang and Yaruingam Vashum were killed.
Condemning Friday’s ambush, Manipur chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh in an official statement said: “Ambushing a goods vehicle and taking the life of a driver, who plays a crucial role in ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential items across the state is one of the most cowardly acts and intends to further aggravate the tense situation prevailing in the area,”
He said search and cordon operations were under way to nab the accused. The chief minister also said the ambush “seemed to be carried out by vested interest groups with the ill-motive to derail the initiatives of the state government to restore peace and normalcy in the state”, which has been in turmoil since May 3, 2023 due to the ongoing conflict between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos.
The Kuki CSO Working Committee, Ukhrul, sought treatment for those injured during what it called the excessive use of force at Shangkai village and demanded a time-bound judicial inquiry into the action by security personnel.
Friday’s ambush came on the eve of a nationwide protest rally called by the Kuki Inpi Manipur in Kuki-Zo areas across the country on Saturday.