One Killed in Manipur Thoubal Clash, Prohibitory Orders Imposed

One person was killed and several others were injured in clashes between members of two communities in Manipur's Thoubal district on Sunday night, police said on Monday. The violence prompted prohibitory orders in two areas and the deployment of additional state and central security forces, the IANS news agency reported.

The trouble began at Khangabok village, under Thoubal police station and about 25 kilometres south of Imphal, the state capital. A group of people allegedly pelted stones at a ground where a music concert was being held, a police official in Imphal said. Power Corridors, which also reported the clash from police accounts, put the start at around midnight and said tension had built at the concert ground before the stone pelting spread.

Shots fired as houses and vehicles burn

The incident escalated into stone pelting between members of the two communities in Khangabok and neighbouring Sangaiyumpham. A few houses and vehicles were set on fire during the clashes, police said.

Amid the violence, unidentified people opened fire. One man was hit in the head. Police identified him as Laishram Rakesh, aged 24 in the Power Corridors report. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

Several other people sustained minor cut injuries after being hit by stones. They were admitted to a hospital for treatment, police said. Who fired the shots, and who set the houses and vehicles on fire, remained under investigation. No report said the violence had been organised by community leaders.

Orders keep residents indoors

Following the violence, the Thoubal district magistrate issued prohibitory orders on Sunday night. Residents of Khangabok and Sangaiyumpham were directed not to leave their homes from 11 p.m. The order was issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. It cited the likelihood of a breach of peace, disturbance of public tranquillity and an imminent threat to human life and property from the alleged unlawful activities of anti-social elements. The order did not specify when the restrictions would be lifted.

Additional state and central security forces were deployed in the affected villages to prevent further escalation. The situation was under control on Monday morning, police said.

Separate house burnings in Kamjong

In separate incidents in the same state, more than 25 houses were set ablaze in Manipur's Kamjong district during the past 24 hours, IANS reported. Suspected militants targeted both Naga and Kuki inhabited areas, forcing civilians to flee their homes and take shelter in forests and at a nearby security camp.

Around 14 abandoned houses belonging to the Naga community were set on fire by unidentified people at Pilong and Skipe villages, along the India and Myanmar border, on Sunday. Additional security forces were deployed after those incidents, a police official said. The houses had been abandoned after earlier attacks on the Naga inhabited villages.