Officer killed, 10 injured in overnight clashes

IMPHAL: One policeman was killed and at least 10 people injured on Monday following violent overnight clashes in Manipur’s west Kangpokpi area, officials said. There was a brief lull between about 3 am and 6 am but the sound of indiscriminate firing from Phayeng and Singda villages could be heard after that. The firing was aimed at villages and hills in Kangchup area of Kangpokpi district. The Assam Rifles manage a buffer zone between the two villages. Officials did not rule out the possibility of more casualties from both sides and said the exact picture could be ascertained only after the firing came to an end. At least 150 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in the in May, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.