NEW DELHI: The post-mortem reports of the 10 suspected Kuki-Zo militants who were killed in an alleged encounter with the security personnel in Manipur’s Jiribam district on November 11, revealed that the assailants sustained multiple bullet injuries. Some of them were shot in the back and head, the reports revealed, suggesting they were shot from behind. Besides, at least four of them had one eye missing.
The Manipur police had claimed that the gunfight took place after insurgents in camouflage uniform and armed with sophisticated weapons opened fire on Borobekra police station and an adjacent CRPF camp at Jakuradhor in Jiribam. The CRPF and police personnel retaliated and killed 10 assailants.
The NIA is probing the incident, which has enraged the tribal communities in the troubled state, with several outfits claiming that the 10 men were in fact village volunteers.
Notably, while six bodies were brought to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in Assam on November 12, four arrived on November 14 and were in early stages of decomposition.
The estimated time of death of the assailants on whose bodies the autopsy was conducted on November 12 was 24-36 hours before the procedure and of those whose bodies arrived on November 14 was 72-96 hours.
The bodies bore multiple bullet wounds, with some of the deceased having even more than a dozen such injuries, while four bodies had one eye missing.
The opinion regarding the cause of death has been kept pending by doctors who are awaiting chemical analysis of the viscera. The burial of the 10 men will take place on Thursday as per tribal rituals, sources said.
Ethnic violence began in Manipur in May 2023, and has been going on ever since – killing hundreds, displacing tens of thousands and sharply dividing the state along ethnic lines. Almost 300 companies of the central armed police forces are currently stationed in the state and AFSPA has been imposed in several districts.