The bodies of a woman and two children were found near confluence of Jiri river and Barak river along Manipur-Assam border on Friday night and the officials suspect that they might be of six persons missing from Jiribam district.
Six people including three women and three minors went missing from Bokobera of Jiribam district earlier this week following massive gunfight and elimination of 11 militants. The bodies were found 16 km away from where they went missing.
As tension rose with the news of the recovery of the bodies, the state authorities in all five districts of the Imphal Valley declared a holiday for schools and colleges on Saturday.
While some local reports suggest that all six bodies have been recovered aligning with suspicion that the bodies were of those missing from Jiribam but, there is no official confirmation on this matter yet.
The officials told PTI that they suspect the three bodies might be of those of the six persons who went missing.
Autopsy To Take Place
The unidentified bodies were taken to Assam's Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) on Friday night and kept at the hospital's morgue for postmortem.
According to Indian Express all six were placed in a relief camp near Bokobera police station since the unrest in Manipur began in May 2023.
An official told PTI that it is yet to be confirmed that the bodies are that of the missing persons.
He said that they are waiting for the postmortem to be conducted and have collected the photographs for identification.
Autopsies of bodies found in Imphal's Jiribam are done in Assam's Silchar Medical College Hospital due to lack of infrastructural facilities in the town.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh reportedly held a meeting with senior ministers on Friday night to discuss the escalating situation in the state after the news of the recovery of the bodies.
Candlelight Vigil In Manipur, Mizoram
Hundreds of people in Aizawl, Mizoram, held a candlelight vigil on Friday hundreds other on the streets in Manipur's Churachandpur district to mourn the deaths of 11 individuals from the Hmar-Mizo community in Jiribam on Monday.
The Mizo Defence League who organised the protest in Aizawl condemned the killing of a Hmar tribal woman on November 7 and the deaths of 10 others by security forces on November 11.
The Kuki Women Organisation held the protest in Churachandrapur holding placards denouncing the CRPF, hundreds of people from different walks of life marched to the 'Wall of Remembrance', a memorial for the Kuki people killed in the ethnic violence in the state since May last year.
Protesters in both the states blamed the Manipur government and the Centre for failing to address the ongoing ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. They also demanded the immediate return of the bodies from Silchar Medical College and Hospital for proper burial.
Congress Slams PM Modi 'Neglecting' Manipur
The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur since the ethnic violence began in May 2023 as the PM is scheduled to travel to Brazil to attend the annual G20 Summit and to Nigeria and Guyana as part of a three-nation tour beginning today. Congress also slammed Centre for how it handled the situation in the troubled state.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Rameshin a strongly worded post on X said, "For the next 3 days, we will be spared the non-biological PM's lie-surplus, dignity-deficit election campaign. He is off on his periodic foreign jaunt, where he will attempt to score domestic political points rather than engage in any pretence of statesmanship."
"But why is Mr Narendra Modi steadfastly refusing to visit the troubled state of Manipur that has been torn apart so tragically since May 2023?" he added.
Ramesh said the prime minister's refusal to do so is simply beyond any understanding as the people of Manipur, who have seen and are continuing to experience so much agony and suffering daily, surely deserve such a visit.
