Assam soldier shot six of his colleagues

Ethnic clashes between the Kukis and Meiteis first erupted on May...

On Wednesday an Assam soldier before shooting himself he allegedly shot his six colleagues at his battalion in south Manipur, police said.

There has been an incident of firing by an Assam Rifles Jawan in an Assam Rifles Battalion deployed close to the Indo - Myanmar border in South Manipur. One Assam Rifles Jawan opened fire on his colleagues injuring six of them (all injured are non-Manipuris); later the individual shot himself. All injured have been evacuated to Military Hospital for further treatment and reported to be stable”, the statement said.

The statement added that there was no relation whatsoever of this particular incident to the ongoing conflict in the state.

“In light of the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur, it is important to share the details of the incident transparently to dispel any potential rumours and avoid any speculation. This unfortunate incident should not be correlated with ongoing conflict, given the fact that none of the injured are from Manipur. An investigation into the incident has been ordered to ascertain the facts”, the statement read.

All Assam Rifles battalions have mixed class composition including those belonging to various communities from Manipur. All personnel have been staying and operating together despite polarization of society to maintain peace and stability in Manipur”, the statement added.

Meanwhile, officials aware of the developments have described this incident as a fratricide.

“Police will probe the incident. The soldier is from Churachandpur, and had recently joined duty but the people he shot are, not from Manipur. Police will probe the reasons for this fratricide incident,” an official aware of the matter said.

Ethnic clashes between the Kukis and Meiteis first erupted on May 3 during a protest against a court-ordered tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the latter.