Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s advance security convoy was ambushed by suspected militants in the state’s Kangpokpi district on Monday. One security official was injured, The Indian Express reported.

The incident took place when the convoy was sent to prepare for Singh’s visit to Manipur’s Jiribam district, where violence erupted on June 6 after a Meitei man was killed. Singh was to visit the district after returning from Delhi on Monday, PTI reported.

At 10.40 am on Monday, the suspected militants attacked the advance security convoy on the road that connects Imphal and Jiribam. The security personnel were ambushed in T Laijang village of Kuki-Zomi dominated Kangpokpi district, reported The Indian Express.

The injured security official was identified as Moirangthem Ajesh. He sustained a bullet injury and is undergoing medical treatment.

Singh said that the attack was unfortunate and “highly condemnable”.

“It is an attack directly on a chief minister, and means directly on the people of the state,” ANI quoted Singh as saying. “So, the state government has to do something. So, I will take a call after discussion with all of my colleagues and we will take a decision.”

Jiribam violence

Prohibitory orders were imposed soon after violence erupted in Jiribam district on June 6. However, on Saturday, suspected militants torched the Jiri police outpost located in the Chotobekra area of the district.

The miscreants also set fire to several houses, mostly in the outlying areas of Jiribam, PTI reported quoting an unidentified district official.

The district authorities also evacuated 239 persons, mostly women and children, from their villages in Jiribam, PTI reported.

The Manipur government on Saturday also transferred Jiribam’s Senior Superintendent of Police A Ghanashyam Sharma. The state government appointed M Pradip Sharma, who belongs to the Meitei community, as the new superintendent of police of the district.

The Meitei man whose body was found on June 6 was identified as Soibam Sarathkumar Singh. Singh was picked up by “unknown miscreants” when he was returning home from his farm, The Print quoted unidentified police officials as saying.

Jiribam, which has a mixed population of Meiteis and tribal communities, has been relatively peaceful amid the ethnic conflict in the rest of the state.

Violence between Manipur’s Meitei and Kuki communities has left at least 225 persons dead and displaced 60,000 people from their homes since the beginning of the clashes in May 2023.

Also read: Why both Meiteis and Kuki-Zos rejected the BJP in Manipur