TMB Report
Imphal: The lifeless bodies of the 13 deceased who were killed by heavily armed Kuki militants in Leithu village near Saibol village under Machi Police Station in Tengnoupal district on Monday have been brought to the mortuary of JNIMS Hospital, Porompat in Imphal East on Tuesday early wee hour. The identities of the 13 deceased has been confirmed.
According to a report from reliable sources, at around 7:30 am on Monday, 23 people of a proscribed outfit divided into two teams, one with 10 people and another with 13 people, left for Myanmar. Out of the two teams, one team with 10 people made it through to Myanmar, however, the team with 13 people was attacked heavily by Kuki militants and killed at the spot at Leithu village while trying to cross through Myanmar, it said.
The report further said that the ill-fated 13-person team and the 10-person team who managed to cross through Myanmar were to be recruits of a proscribed outfit and were on their way to Myanmar to get training and they had no weapons or vehicles.
Meanwhile, the OC in-charge of Machi Police Station said they received the report of the incident at around 10:30 am on Monday. Upon receiving the report, without any delay, a combined team of Machi Police Station, Assam along with Tengnoupal Police led by its SP rushes in.
Upon arriving at the incident spot, the combined team recovered 13 dead bodies lying on the ground, however, no recovery of any weapons or vehicles was made. In the meantime, the identity of the 13 deceased could not be established, the OC in charge said.
Awkwardly, there is a post of 20 Assam Rifles and 21 Para Regiment not so far away from the incident spot and there is also a camp of Myanmar-based Kuki militant outfit and Manipur-based Kuki militant outfit in the said nearby areas, sources said.
The report also said that the lifeless bodies of the 13 deceased were able to be brought and deposited at the mortuary of JNIMS Hospital on Tuesday early wee hour and their identification is confirmed. The family members of the individuals came together at the JNIMS mortuary to claims the bodies, the last rites of the deceased will be performed at Andro.
A case has been registered at Machi Police Station in connection with the incident.
The lifeless bodies of the 13 deceased had bullet marks shot from a close range, however, the exact cause of the deaths is yet to be known after conducting post-mortems, the report said.
