Missing for four days, man found dead in Manipur

The body of a man missing for four days was found with a gunshot wound in the area adjoining Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts of strife-torn Manipur on Sunday, police officers familiar with the matter said.

According to police, 31-year-old N Manisana, a resident of Imphal West district went missing on February 7. His family filed a missing person complaint at the Thoubal Dam police station on February 9, they added. A joint team of the state and central security forces found his body during an operation at the Molham Karong area, located about 5km southeast of Thoubal Dam police station, the officers added.

“A case has been registered in this regard and investigation is going on,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity. Manisana’s body has been sent to the mortuary at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, the officer added.

Manipur has been in the throes of ethnic violence between the majority Meitei community and the tribal Kukis since May 3 last year, with other communities increasingly sucked into the violence that has continued unabated. Over the past eight months, at least 210 people have lost their lives, and over 50,000 people have been displaced. The Centre has stepped up discussions with the stakeholders from different groups from both the Kuki and Metei communities in an attempt to end the vicious cycle of violence. In January, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) dispatched a three-member team of its representatives to e Manipur to hold talks with members of both the communities.

The team comprising AK Mishra, the Centre’s interlocutor for peace talks, and two senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) will spend few days in Manipur, holding talks with various civil society organisations and representatives from both communities, an official aware of the details said. On Wednesday, representatives of different tribal groups held a meeting with senior officials of the MHA and Intelligence Bureau (IB) in New Delhi, on their demand for a separate administration and the Centre’s plan to fence the 1,643 kilometre-long border between India and Myanmar.