The Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) CoBRA unit on Tuesday conducted house-to-house searches in and around Manipur’s Taphou village in Senapati district after the gunfight that injured one CRPF jawan .
Tensions escalated between the Kuki and Naga community in the area after the May 13 twin ambush by unknown armed individuals at Noney and Kangpokpi district killing four, including three church leaders and one Naga man. The state’s Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities shut each other out from the areas they dominate since ethnic clashes began in May 2023 and left at least 260 people dead and displaced 60,000. No arrests or detentions were reported during the searches.
The operation came a day after a CRPF jawan sustained an injury to his foot during a gunfight between security forces and unidentified armed individuals after two houses belonging to separate communities were set ablaze by an unidentified group of people, triggering tension in the area. One of the two houses belonged to a Kuki family while the other belonged to the Poumai community (a sub-community of the Naga community). The ethnic clashes in Manipur began between the Meitei and Kuki communities before involving almost every community.
District police personnel and the CoBRA team carried out the search and combing operation in Taphou Naga Liangmai village and Taphou Kuki village during the early hours of Tuesday, officials said. Officials said the operation was carried out without resistance from residents.
