Six Bodies Found In Manipur Hostage Case Involving Meitei Women, Children

The police have discovered six bodies, five days after three women and three children, including an eight-month-old, from the Meitei community were taken hostage by suspected Kuki insurgents in Manipur's Jiribam district, which borders Assam, according to senior state government sources, reported NDTV.

The first three bodies, comprising a woman and two children, were transported to the morgue at Assam's Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) on Friday evening, amidst rising tensions in neighbouring Jiribam.

Photo Credit: PTI

Initially, morgue staff at SMCH believed the bodies to be those of three women based on their condition. However, further inspection on Saturday morning confirmed two were children and one was a woman. Due to decomposition, the corpses had bloated, the sources noted.

Later in the day, senior government officials revealed that three additional bodies had been found, bringing the total to six. These newly discovered bodies have not yet been transported to SMCH for identification.

Laisharam Herojit, a state government employee whose wife, two children, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law were among the hostages, told NDTV he has not yet seen the bodies. All the victims belonged to the Meitei community.

The SMCH morgue, located around 50 km from Jiribam, handles autopsies for bodies found in the area due to inadequate infrastructure in Jiribam.

The abduction occurred in Jiribam's Bokobera neighbourhood while another group of suspected Kuki militants engaged in a gunfight with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. Sources confirmed that 10 Kuki militants were killed in the encounter.

Herojit recounted that his wife had called him during the chaos on Monday, crying and saying they were surrounded by armed individuals.

"The call got disconnected, after which I called her back, but the mobile was switched off. My mother-in-law's phone was also switched off. About an hour later, a Bengali friend of my wife told us she saw them being taken away in a boat," he said.

The CRPF camp and police station in Borobekra are less than 1 km from the Barak River, where the abductions reportedly occurred.

The Kuki tribes have disputed the encounter, claiming the 10 killed were "village volunteers," an assertion denied by CRPF and police sources. Security forces have displayed recovered weapons, including AK and INSAS assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, along with bullet-riddled police vehicles from the encounter site.

Kuki Protesters Clash with Police in Silchar

On Saturday morning, a group of people from the Kuki tribes staged a protest outside SMCH, attempting to block the transportation of the 10 bodies of those killed in the encounter. The Kukis insisted the bodies should remain in Silchar and be handed over to them to be transported to Mizoram.

Despite discussions between protesters and officials, tensions escalated when police attempted to move the bodies. The situation turned confrontational, leading to a lathi-charge after protesters pushed back, causing some officers to fall.

The Assam Police remain on high alert in the region as the situation continues to develop.