Kohima, Feb. 7: Around 20 houses and three cars belonging to people from the Yimchunger community were burned in Kiphire town allegedly by members of the Sangtam community this evening, a day after a young couple were gunned down at Yei bridge in Shamator sub-division by unidentified men while returning from the girl's parents' home.
Almost the entire Yimchunger population of Kiphire has fled the town and curfew has been imposed.
The young couple, whose names have not been revealed by the administration, were travelling in a Maruti Gypsy from Shamator town to Kiphire when gunmen ambushed their car and killed them yesterday. Sources said the couple were ambushed at Yei bridge, under Shamator sub-division, in Tuensang district.
The husband hailed from the Sangtam community and was a teacher while the wife was from the Tikhir community and a nurse. Their bodies were taken to Kiphire civil hospital for post-mortem. After the incident, a large police contingent was deployed in the area.
The situation in Shamator had been tense for the past few months because of clashes between the Yimchunger and Kiphire communities. Animosity has been brewing between these two communities for years as the Yimchungers consider the Tikhirs as part and parcel of their community and not a separate tribe. Several people have been killed in clashes between these communities in the past.
Both the communities have been fighting for control of Shamator town. The Tikhir Students' Union (TSU) opposed the Yimchungru Students' Union's golden jubilee celebration at Shamator town last month. The TSU said since time immemorial Shamator was Tikhir land.
The union said at the time of establishment of Shamator town in 1954, no disputes existed between the two communities. "But Yimchungers, trying to bring Shamator town under their control, have created havoc and bloodshed between the two tribes a number of times," a TSU member said.