Manipur unrest: NPP condemns killing of villagers in Kwakta, says such act aggravated situation much more

NPP has also categorically opposed the demand for a separate administration

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur and National People’s Party (NPP) national vice president Yumnam Joykumar Singh strongly condemned the brutal killing of three villagers by armed miscreants in Kwakta on Saturday, August 5 and said that such an act has further aggravated the situation in the state which is burning for over three month now.

Speaking exclusively to Northeast Live, Yumnam Joykumar Singh said, ” It was one of the most barbaric and brutal murders, because the villagers’ death did not occur during an exchange of fire; rather, the militants came deliberately, entered the house, and shot them while they were sleeping.”

Singh said that during this tense situation in the state, such an act has aggravated the situation significantly, making the work of restoring peace in the state much more difficult.

Joykumar Singh questioned how security forces could not detect miscreants in the villages, despite the fact that there were larger numbers of security forces present there.

It may be mentioned here that the incident happened at Ward No. 8 in the Kwakta Municipal Council in Bishnupur district. The three villagers were sleeping when armed miscreants entered their house and killed them. Of the three killed, two were hacked to death and the third was shot dead.

The victims have been identified as a 67-year-old father and his two sons, aged 46 and 39, respectively.

NPP has also categorically opposed the demand for a separate administration.

Opposing this, Joykumar Singh said that the cause of the conflict is the not the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Meitei community, but the action of the state government against the poppy cultivation, influx of the Myanmarese illegal immigrants and encroachment in the reserve forest.

Joykumar Singh who is also the former DGP of the state, further blamed Assam Rifles for blocking roads in Terakhongshangbi in Kwakta disturbing the state forces in their duties.

He recommended the state government to withdraw the Assam Rifles for the time being and redeploy them once the state’s tensions had subsided.

Also Read: Fresh violence in Manipur, 3 hacked to death

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