Imphal, June 19 (IANS) A woman was killed and a farmer shot at in separate incidents in Manipur on Thursday, officials said.

Police said that a farmer identified as Ningthoujam Biren was shot at after being struck by a bullet, reportedly fired by suspected Kuki militants at Phubala village in Bishnupur district on Wednesday.

After the incident, security forces rushed to the area and reportedly fired towards the hill in the nearby Churachandpur district. Subsequently, a woman identified as Hoikholhing Haokip, belonging to the Kuki tribal community, was shot dead, and she is stated to be the wife of the Langchingmanbi Village chief.

It is not yet clear who actually fired at the woman. The body of the woman would be taken to the Churachandpur district headquarters tonight by the district Police. Tension ran high in both Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts, and additional security forces were deployed to defuse the tension.

Police said that the first incident occurred when Ningthoujam Biren, along with two other farmers, belonging to the Meitei community, was working in a paddy field located close to the Churachandpur district.

The farmer, who is now under medical treatment at a hospital, later told the police that around five rounds of gunfire were heard coming from the direction of the adjacent hills, raising immediate panic among those working in the paddy field.

The Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights (KWOHR) in a statement strongly condemned the “brutal and cold-blooded” killing of Hoikholhing Haokip, wife of Khaikhogin Haokip, the village chief of Langchingmanbi, who was shot dead by militants on Thursday evening at Langchingmanbi village.

“This horrific incident is yet another grim reminder of the ongoing ethnic cleansing and targeted violence against the Kuki people. Despite the presence of a government-declared buffer zone intended to prevent clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities, militants have repeatedly violated and crossed the buffer line, provoking tensions and directly endangering the lives of innocent civilians,” the statement said.

On June 15, tension erupted in Manipur’s Imphal East district over a dispute over the farming of a paddy field and the land ownership row, but was defused with the deployment of additional security forces in the area.

A police official had said that a farmer, belonging to the Meitei community from Leitanpokpi areas, went with a tractor to plough a paddy field in Sadu Lampak village in Imphal East near a Kuki tribal inhabited village.

“Some Kuki villagers nearby came and objected, claiming that the paddy field does not belong to the Meitei community farmer. In the meantime, some people of the Meitei community, who were nearby, also came to the spot. Some videos were circulated saying Kukis have come down to stop Meitei farmers,” the official said.

Central and state security forces, led by senior officials, rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

–IANS

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