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IMPHAL — Rescue operations were underway to trace six persons, including three minors, missing after an attack on Borobekra police station in Jiribam district by suspected militants, Manipur Police said on Tuesday.
Police said purported photographs of the six missing persons in captivity of militants doing the rounds on social media could not be confirmed and the rescue operations will continue till they were traced.
Manipur Police said 10 militants were killed after security forces retaliated following an attack on the police station and a nearby CRPF camp on Monday afternoon. However, a senior government official had put the toll at 11.
Around 100 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were sheltered in a relief camp on the police station compound.
Following the attack, the bodies of two elderly IDPs have been recovered and another three have been rescued, while six, including three women and children each, remained untraced. Jiri Apunba Lup, the apex Meitei body in Jiribam, claimed the six missing persons were of the same family.
Also read: Total shutdown in hill areas of Manipur, Kuki-Zo bodies seek investigation into Jiribam gunfight
Speaking to reporters at the state police headquarters here, IGP (Operations) I K Muivah said, "Between 2.30 pm and 3 pm on Monday, there was an attack by armed miscreants at Borobekra police station and a nearby CRPF camp at Jakuradhor in Jiribam district."
"In the attack, the miscreants used RPGs and sophisticated automatic weapons such as AK and INSAS rifles and SLRs. Ten militants were found dead after the retaliation by security forces and one CRPF jawan was injured and was evacuated to Assam for treatment. Two elderly civilians were also found dead, while three women and three minors remained missing," he said.
Police are trying to trace the missing individuals, the officer said.
"It was a very unfortunate incident and armed forces tried to caution the attackers, which is our standard practice. But when fired upon from sophisticated weapons, retaliation is part of mandate. An FIR has been lodged and reinforcements comprising CRPF, Assam Rifles and police have been sent to the area. We are conducting combing operations in Jakuradhor area," Muivah added.
When journalists pointed out that Kuki-Zo bodies claimed that the slain militants were "village volunteers", Muivah said, "We have seized sophisticated firearms from the spot. This shows very clearly that they were armed militants or armed miscreants."
"They were also wearing military fatigues. They had come there to create a lot of violence but the scale could be controlled due to the role played by CRPF," he said.
IGP (Administration) K Jayanta Singh said, "This was the second direct attack on Borobekra police station since violence broke out in the state last year. Also, 31 incidents of firing had been reported in adjoining areas. A total of 79 empty houses in the vicinity of the police station have been gutted since violence erupted in Jiribam earlier this year."
"The police station accommodated 100 IDPs, besides CRPF and police personnel. By the nature of the attack, the uniform of the attackers and the firearms they were carrying, we have doubts they were just village volunteers," he said.
"We had exercised maximum restraint and retaliated only when fired upon. Had the security forces not retaliated, and with the miscreants targeting the civilians, the casualties of civilians would have been higher," he said.
On media queries about purported photographs of the six missing persons in captivity of militants doing the rounds on social media, the senior officer said, "We have seen the photographs... however, things are not confirmed yet. Search operations will continue."
The six missing persons were identified as Yumrembam Rani Devi (60), Telem Thoibi Devi (31) and her daughter Telem Thajamanbi Devi (8), Laishram Heithoibi Devi (25) and her two children Laishram Chingkheinganba Singh (two-and-a-half-years old) and Laishram Lamnganba Singh (10 months).
More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.
Ethnically diverse Jiribam, which was largely untouched by the clashes in Imphal Valley and the adjoining hills, witnessed violence after the mutilated body of a farmer was found in a field in June this year.