3 bodies found as tensions roil Manipur's buffer zone

Security forces found the bodies of three men in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Thursday morning with Manipur police confirming that they were among the four people reported missing after a gunfight at a nearby buffer zone a day earlier.

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The post-mortem examination of the three bodies is yet to be conducted, but prima facie it appeared that the three sustained gunshot wounds and one of them also had stab wounds on the neck, said an official, requesting anonymity. The bodies are currently at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal.

"The army and Assam Rifles are helping in the search for the fourth person. The bodies of the three men were found in the jungles of Haothak Tampha Kunao in Churachandpur at around 10 am on Thursday," said the official quoted above.

Manipur police, in a post on X, confirmed that the three bodies were among the four men who were reported missing on January 10. "Security forces are carrying out hectic efforts to search for the other missing person and to flush out armed miscreants from the area," a post from Manipur police's official account said on Thursday night.

The recovery of the bodies marks the bloodiest day in the strife-torn state since January 1, when four members of the Meitei Pangal community were gunned down. At least 201 people have now died in the ethnic clashes that began between the dominant Meiteis and the tribal Kukis in May last year, but which have seen a surge in recent weeks with more communities getting caught in the crossfire.

The four men - Ahanthem Dara (55), Thoudam Ibomcha (53), his son Thoudam Anand (27) and Oinam Romen (45) were reported missing after residents of Bishnupur heard loud bangs of bombs and bullets being fired from the hills near Haotak Phailen village at around 3pm on Wednesday.