CRPF jawan killed in militant attack in Manipur's Jiribam

Guwahati: In a fresh incident, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed and three other security personnel injured when suspected militants ambushed a joint patrol party in Manipur's Jiribam district on Sunday.

The three injured include a CRPF jawan and two Manipur police personnel. A police official said the joint patrol party came under heavy fire from the hilltop by suspected militants at Morbung village of Jiribam district bordering Assam.

The CRPF troopers were inside a patrol SUV when the suspected insurgents opened fire. The vehicle was later found with bullet holes and its windshield shattered. The security personnel retaliated and the militants took shelter in the forest of the mountainous terrain.


Police said that a combing operation is now going on and additional forces have rushed to the area.

Sunday's incident was the second militant attack on security forces in Manipur in 5 weeks.

On June 10, suspected militants attacked the advance security convoy of Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in Kangpokpi district and a security personnel was injured in the attack. The advance security convoy was on its way to the trouble-torn Jiribam district on June 10 ahead of the chief minister's scheduled visit to the state's bordering district with Assam which recently witnessed violence. The convoy was attacked near Kotlen village on the Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH-37).

Jiribam witnessed a wave of violence after the killing of 59-year-old Soibam Saratkumar Singh on June 6. The violence led to around 900 tribals belonging to Kuki and Hmar communities taking shelter in the homes of relatives and friends in two villages in the Cachar district of southern Assam, while around 1,000 people, mostly belonging to the Meitei community, are sheltered in seven relief camps in Jiribam.