The innocent Kuki-Zo women and children thronged the gates of Assam Rifles at various locations in Moreh and spent the nights after the Manipur police conducted a search operation following the killing of SDPO Moreh, Chingtham Anand Kumar.
The Sub-divisional Police Officer of the Moreh Sub-Division, Chingtham Anand Kumar, was killed in a gunfight between thr State police commandos and armed miscreants on October 31, 2023.
Following the incident, the combined forces of police commandos, Assam Rifles and BSF had launched combing and search operations in different places in and around Moreh, a Kuki-Zo inhabited hill-town in the border along Indo-Myanmar international boundary.
Residents of Moreh, Govajang village, Chikim village, New Leikot village and others alleged excessive brutality, viciousness and high-handedness of the police commandos during the said combing operations. They accused the Meitei cops of ransacking homes, assaulting civilians during the operation.
As a result of the police atrocities, some women from Govajang village sustained injuries and were rushed to Primary Health Centre, Moreh, for treatment.
In this regard, an FIR was filed against the police commandos. One of the injured women – Tinneichong Kipgen, wife of Seithang Kipgen of Govajang village, had stated that around 4 :30pm of November 1, the police commando team barged into their village and kick-opened the house door while they were having dinner. “They (the police commandos) shouted and assaulted us verbally and physically. They hit me on my head and body with their hands and radio set. I felt unconscious and felt down. When I touch my head, blood oozing out and I felt dizzy and helpless,” said Tinneichong.
She also said that her daughter- Chinneithem (15years) was also beaten black and blue by the police commandos. They hit her head and body with their hands and radio-set. “Hoijaneng, wife of my elder brother, came to help us. But the police commando abused her physically and verbally and hit and kicked her,” Tinneichong wrote in the FIR.
Tinneichong further stated that the police commandos also ransacked her house and destroyed her properties including TV, furniture and Utensils. The police broke-opened the Alms Box (Church missionary box) and took away the money kept in it. They also took away mobile phones from the villagers, she alleged.
Meanwhile, women and children belonging to Kuki-Zo community in Moreh thronged Assam Rifle camps and sought protection from the brutality and viciousness of the police commandos. Large number of women and children including infants and minors spent the freezing nights in front of the Assam Rifles gates at AR IB, ICP, AR Helipad and AR outpost near India-Myanmar border crossing Gate No.1.
Situation in Moreh becomes tense due to the prevailing circumstances. The ethnic violence in Manipur between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities enters 7 months on Friday, and peace and normalcy remain a far cry.
