The body of a man who has been missing since January 10 was found in the Wangoo Sabal area of Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Saturday. Ahanthem Dara Meitei (56) was among the four people who had gone missing that day after armed militants allegedly launched an attack in the Kumbi Haotak area of the district.
Police said his body was found after intense search by security forces.
The bodies of the three others — Oinam Romen Meitei (45), Thoudam Ibomcha Meitei (53) and his son, Thoudam Anand Meitei (27) — were found on January 11. They went missing after they had gone to collect firewood near the area where a firing was reported.
Meanwhile, tension erupted in the Kumbi area on Saturday after Dara’s body was found. Locals have demanded the removal of central forces deployed in the area within three days.
Intermittent incidents of violence have been reported in the last few months after clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities in May last year, which has so far claimed close to 200 lives.
The clashes erupted after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
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