Village Volunteers clarify on Moreh incident; urge media house to follow ethics

With regard to a gunfight between the communal combined state-sponsored armed groups and the village guards of Moreh, the Village Volunteers, Tengnoupal district, has clarified the Imphal-based media houses' reports of involving the Kuki underground outfits as "baseless and totally false", but just an eyewash to conceal State government's involvement in deploying Meitei militants and radicals alongwith Police commandos in Moreh town.

"The news report of blaming KNA-B, KNA/UKLF involved in Moreh gunfight is totally false. It is a concocted and baseless allegations made by Meitei media and Meitei Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh, so as to conceal stationing of Meitei militants, Arambai Tenggol among the Meitei police commandos in Moreh town," the Village Volunteers said.

Claiming their hands, the Village Volunteers stated that the gunfight, in fact, broke out when Meitei Militants, Arambai Tenggol who were masqueraded as police commandos went to burn down Chavangphai Moreh W/No.7.

"Forget about KNA-B, KNA/UKLF or other, we the Tengnoupal District Village Volunteers alone are more than enough to tackle these state-sponsored terrorists," a statement issued by the Volunteers said on Tuesday.

The statement said that the combined forces of Meitei police commandos, Meitei Militants and Arambai Tenggol went to Chavangphai and abducted two innocent Kuki-Zo civilians and tried to burnt down Chavangphai following which the Village Volunteers were compelled to fire upon the state-sponsored terrorists groups.

In the ensuing gunfight, the Village Volunteers claimed, they inflicted heavy casualty, killing 3 Meiteis at the spot. "The death of three Meiteis in today's gunbattle was concealed by the Meitei Police commandos as the deceased were masqueraded as police commandos."

The Volunteers alleged that it was well-known to all the people of Moreh that Meitei shopkeepers, overground workers, sympathisers of Meitei Militants and a butcher who used to sell meat at Moreh bazar before the communal crisis broke out on May 3 were also masqueraded as police commandos and stationed in Moreh town.

Dragging the names of all those unrelated groups - KNA(B) and others - is just a ploy to plot the Kuki-Zo community in bad light and to bring-in more Meitei militants and Meitei commandos to Moreh town, the Volunteers said.

Alleging that the State media run by Meiteis and some national media particularly NorthEast Live are biased in favour of one community, the Village Volunteers urged them all to go with media ethics.

Clarifying that there's no involvement of KNA(B), KNA/UKLF or others in Moreh gunfight, the Tengnoupal District Village Volunteers vowed that they would continue to fight the combined forces of Meitei Militants, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Police Commandos until they are removed from Moreh town.

"We will continue to fight against these state-sponsored terrorists who tried to annihilate Kuki-Zo people," the Volunteers added.