Imphal/Guwahati:
The deputy chief of a Kuki insurgent group which is among the 17 armed groups under the banner of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) was shot dead in an ambush in Manipur’s Churachandpur today, sources said.
Two other members of the Kuki National Army (KNA) and a bystander were also killed in the ambush claimed by a rival group, United Kuki National Liberation Army (UKNA).
The KNO is one of the two umbrella groups of tribal insurgents – the other is the United People’s Front (UPF) – which signed the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government.
The KNA deputy chief who was killed in the ambush has been identified as Thenkhothang Haokip alias Thahpi, 48, while the two other KNA members have been identified as Seikhogin, 34, and Lengouhao, 35, sources said.
Lengouhao was the son-in-law of KNO chief PS Haokip, sources in Churachandpur told NDTV on phone.
The three were in a white SUV when the attack happened at Churachandpur’s Mongjang village at 2 pm on Monday, sources said.
The bystander who was killed in the ambush has been identified as 72-year-old Phalhing. She was a resident of Koite in Churachandpur.
In a purported UKNA statement widely circulated in WhatsApp groups monitored by the police, the UKNA said it launched the ambush in revenge for the killing of a UKNA leader and over 30 people by the KNA.
The death of KNO chief PS Haokip’s son-in-law, Lengouhao, is a big setback for the umbrella organisation in which the KNA has a major influence, sources said.
Lengouhao was seen as an efficient taskmaster in the KNA and his loss will be deeply felt in the KNO, they said. He was very close to the KNA deputy chief Thenkhothang Haokip alias Thahpi, and both enjoyed a good rapport and trust, sources said.
The killing also comes at a time when the KNO, steered by PS Haokip, and the UPF are in advanced talks with the central government on their demand for a separate administration carved out of Manipur, and the formal extension of the SoO agreement.
The police have cordoned off the area. They are yet to issue a statement on the sequence of events.
The UKNA is not a signatory to the SoO agreement, which makes it mandatory for the insurgents to stay at designated camps with their weapons kept in locked storage, jointly monitored by the security forces and the insurgents from time to time.
The Assam Rifles on March 8 destroyed a UKNA camp in Churachandpur’s Henglep village. The army had said the camp was found hidden in a nearby jungle.
Leaders of the KNO and UPF recently met officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to discuss their demand of carving out parts of Manipur into a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly.
