GUWAHATI: Trouble broke out in Manipur's Jiribam district on Thursday after the alleged killing of a 59-year-old man by suspected militants. Angry residents set an abandoned building ablaze in protest.
The family raised an alarm after Soibam Saratkumar Singh, the victim, did not return home from his farm. Subsequently his body was discovered; it bore injuries inflicted by a sharp weapon, police said.
Protesters gathered in front of Jiribam police station demanding return of their licensed firearms, which had been confiscated during elections, on grounds that the poll process was over.
Despite its diverse ethnic composition, including Meiteis, Muslims, Nagas, Kukis, and non-Manipuris, Jiribam had remained largely unaffected by the ethnic conflict that has plagued Manipur since May 2023.