GUWAHATI: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed and three others were injured in an attack by suspected militants in Manipur.
The incident occurred around 9:45 am on Sunday in Jiribam district. A combined team of the CRPF’s 20th Battalion and Manipur Police was headed to the Monbung village to conduct a search operation when it came under attack.
The deceased was identified as Ajay Kumar Jha (43) from Bihar. Official sources said he sustained bullet injuries in the head and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
The injured were a CRPF jawan, a police sub-inspector and a commando of the state forces.
After the attack, the authorities rushed additional security personnel to Mongbung. Chief Minister N Biren Singh condemned the killing.
“I strongly condemn the killing of a CRPF personnel in an attack carried out by an armed group, suspected to be Kuki militants, in Jiribam district today,” Singh wrote on X.
“His supreme sacrifice in the line of duty shall not go in vain. I further extend my sincere condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased soldier, while praying for the speedy recovery of the ones injured during the attack,” he further wrote.
The Kuki Inpi, a Kuki organisation, alleged the armed assault began at about 9:40 am by a combined team of state forces and valley-based insurgent groups.
The Kuki Inpi “denounced” that the CRPF “deliberately” failed to maintain neutrality which led to the jawan’s death.
Located in Manipur’s westernmost periphery bordering Assam’s Cachar district, Jiribam has a mixed population of Meiteis, Kuki-Zo tribals, Nagas and various other communities. It was unaffected by the ethnic violence in the past year until trouble broke out here in the first week of June.
In April, suspected militants had carried out a deadly attack on a camp of the CRPF in the state, killing two personnel and injuring as many others.
The attack was perpetrated at the CRPF’s 128th battalion camp at Naranseina in the Bishnupur district of Imphal Valley.
The ethnic violence in the state left at least 219 people dead and over 60,000 others displaced.
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