An area commander of an extremist group that claimed to have attacked oil and gas tankers on a highway in Manipur more than a fortnight ago has reportedly been gunned down.
Reports from the State’s capital Imphal said Thangminlien Haokip, also known as Hunter, was shot dead by one of his guards in Kangpokpi district’s Geljang village on Sunday. It was not clear whether the shooting was deliberate or an accident.
The police neither denied nor confirmed the incident.
Haokip was the leader of the lesser-known United Kuki National Army, which had taken responsibility for the attack on fuel tankers on National Highway 37 near Kaimai in the Imphal East district on April 16, injuring a driver and damaging five vehicles.
More than 220 people have been killed and over 60,000 people displaced since the conflict between the Kuki-Zo and the Meitei communities broke out on May 3, 2023. The Manipur government and Meitei organisations have blamed the violence on at least 25 Kuki-Zo extremist groups, most of which are under a suspension of operations agreement.
The Kuki-Zos, on the other hand, have accused radical Meitei groups such as the Arambai Tenggol of continuing to attack the tribal people.
