Correspondent
IMPHAL, JUL 1: Around 30 houses were set ablaze in fresh violence near the India-Myanmar border in Manipur’s Kamjong district on Wednesday, police and local sources said.
According to police and local sources, about 15 abandoned houses belonging to Kuki families were torched at Phaimol village, located near Border Pillar No. 113, around 12:30pm.
Phaimol is among several villages near the international border that were vacated following the escalation of the Naga-Kuki conflict in neighbouring Ukhrul district earlier this year. Residents are currently taking shelter at Aishi village, where an 11 Assam Rifles camp is located.
Sources said all 15 houses were destroyed, while the village church was spared.
A few hours later, around 2:45pm, suspected armed miscreants allegedly retaliated by setting fire to Shangkhalok, a Tangkhul village near Border Pillar No. 101. Sources said timely intervention by security forces prevented more extensive damage.
Several small thatched houses occupied by Myanmar refugees and a number of Tangkhul houses were destroyed, while some partially damaged houses were saved.
Sources said seven houses were partially burnt and another seven to eight houses escaped damage.
The violence also spread to Huimine Thana, another Tangkhul-inhabited village between Shangkhalok and Phaikoh, where seven houses were reportedly reduced to ashes.
Police said suo motu cases would be registered and a thorough investigation launched into the latest incidents of arson.
In separate statements, two Kuki organisations — the Committee on Tribal Unity and the Kuki CSO (Civil Society Organisation) Working Committee — condemned the alleged torching of about 20 houses in Phaimol Kuki village.