Manipur: Kuki group demands judicial probe into killings of 10 ‘village volunteers’

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, the umbrella body of the Kuki-Zo community in Manipur, on Thursday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a judicial investigation into the killing of 10 persons in a gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force.

On November 11, Manipur Police said that 10 suspected Kuki militants had been killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jiribam district.

However, Kuki-Zo organisations have claimed that the persons killed in the gunfight were village volunteers.

The term “village volunteers” has been used for armed civilians guarding villages since the ethnic clashes broke out between the Kuki-Zo-Hmars and Meiteis communities in May 2023. At least 258 persons have been killed and more than 59,000 persons have been displaced due to the violence.

The post-mortem reports of the deceased persons showed that they had been “shot from the back, proving that they were not engaged in a gunfight with security forces when they were gunned down”, the memorandum by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum claimed.

The memorandum also questioned the “moral and ethical conduct” of the paramilitary force, saying that the persons having been “shot multiple times” showed that “excessive lethal force” had been used.

The organisation further asked: “Four of the bodies were also desecrated, with each missing an eye, indicating that they were gouged...

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