Imphal: An 8-year-old boy who was injured in a shoot-out and was being taken to a hospital died an errant mob set the ambulance on fire.
Also killed in the gory incident were the boy’s mother and his close kin – sitting on the two sides of the kid.
The ambulance was set on fire in the Iroisemba area of Imphal West, under the jurisdiction of Lamphel police station, on Sunday.
The deceased have been identified as Tonsing Hangsing, his mother Meena Hangsing, and their relative Lydia Lourembam.
According to police and army sources, the ambulance was transporting the injured boy, who sustained a bullet wound in his head during a shoot-out, to the hospital.
The family, a Meitei mother married to a Kuki man, and their son were reportedly residing in an Assam Rifles relief camp at Kangchup when the incident occurred.
A senior Assam Rifles officer confirmed the incident and said security has been strengthened in and around the camp where it happened, according to NDTV.
Manipur has witnessed unprecedented ethnic violence since May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in 11 hill districts by the All Tribal Students' Union of Manipur to protest the Meitei community's demand for a Scheduled Tribe status.
It was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers by the state government from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations in four districts.
A group of women belonging to Manipur's Kuki tribal community staged a protest outside the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday against the ethnic violence in the northeastern state that has so far killed more than 100 people.
The Union Minister had recently visited Manipur from May 29 to June 1.
According to information, the women gathered outside Shah's residence at around 9 a.m.
However, all the protesters were instructed to leave by the Delhi Police, as staging any kind of protest is not allowed in the area.
A Delhi Police official said that upon receiving information about the protest, they dispatched a team to pacify the protesters.
The police initially informed the protesters that assembling outside Shah's house was illegal.
"All the protesters were detained and brought to Jantar Mantar. We informed them that they can stage their protest there if they wanted," the police said.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an apex body of valley-based civil society organisation, said that local youths were not willing to surrender arms as attacks by militants are intensifying.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Committee also alleged that a section of para-military troops remained inactive against the terrorists.
Demanding the replacement of the inactive para-military troopers, the organisation said that deployment of "more sincere security organisations like BSF (Border Security Force) and similar such forces at this juncture is immediately necessary to establish a sense of confidence among the masses".
"We have witnessed the Meetei (Meitei) volunteers complying with the Home Minister's appeal with a sense of confidence and respect to the statement of the Union Home Minister. However, it is very unfortunate that the attacks and aggression from the Kuki militants/terrorist have been intensified again and there is no sign of any retreat from their side," the letter said. "Concerning the gravity of the anger and losses of faith towards the words and wisdom of the Union Home Minister due to the inaction of a section of para-military and security personnel, COCOMI on behalf of the People of Manipur appeal you for one last time to take up befitting action against the defiant Kuki terrorists on emergency basis, failing which the people of Manipur specially the Meitei community is likely to reorganise a new wave of protest and action against those who are targeting the innocent villagers and also to those security personnel who are indirectly and openly supporting the terrorist groups."
"We have witnessed the Meetei (Meitei) volunteers complying with the Home Minister's appeal with a sense of confidence and respect to the statement of the Union Home Minister. However, it is very unfortunate that the attacks and aggression from the Kuki militants/terrorist have been intensified again and there is no sign of any retreat from their side," the letter said.
"Concerning the gravity of the anger and losses of faith towards the words and wisdom of the Union Home Minister due to the inaction of a section of para-military and security personnel, COCOMI on behalf of the People of Manipur appeal you for one last time to take up befitting action against the defiant Kuki terrorists on emergency basis, failing which the people of Manipur specially the Meitei community is likely to reorganise a new wave of protest and action against those who are targeting the innocent villagers and also to those security personnel who are indirectly and openly supporting the terrorist groups."
Criticising the Central and state governments for not being able to clear a blockade of the highways, COCOMI spokesperson Khuraijam Athouba on Wednesday said that it is a fundamental duty of the government to operate the highways.
He said that the highways, especially the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway, has been blockaded by the militants and their supporters for over 30 days.
"The concerned authority should take up all necessary safety measures to lift the blockade of National Highway and ensure smooth transportations of all essentials including the transport fuel, cooking gas, life saving drugs besides food grains permanently," he said.
Meanwhile, thousands of women under the banner of Meitei Meira Paibi, a civil society organisation, on Tuesday night formed a human chain as they marched in Imphal with torches in their hands and chanted in unison, "Long Live Manipur".
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