Manipur: Two migrant labourers from Bihar shot death in Kakching; Militant killed in police action

The Kakching district saw the shooting deaths of two migrant labourers  on 14th December, Saturday night. The dead were among five workmen contracted to build a house in the Keirak area, and they were apparently making their way back to their rented accommodations. The deceased, Sunalal Kumar (18) and Dasharat Kumar (17), were both inhabitants of Rajwahi village, which is located in the Yadavpur police station area of the Gopalganj district of Bihar. Local sources claim that the attack happened on the road and it was dark during the attack. The attack happened while the workers were returning home from their shift. To catch the criminals, police have started a thorough search. Authorities are looking into the killings’ motivation from a number of perspectives.

Meanwhile, Manipur Police on December 14, after receiving information that certain PREPAK (militant group) cadres were engaging in extortion in the Salungpham region of Thoubal district with automatic firearms. As the police squads approached, the cadres opened fire. Strong police retaliation resulted in the arrest of the PREPAK cadres. They discovered one of them, Laishram Prem Singh, 18, with a gunshot wound. They hurried him to Imphal’s Raj Medicity Hospital. It turned out that they had traveled from the Kakching Khunao region to extort people in the village of Salungpham.

Their names are as follows: i. Thokchom Momocha @ Sunny (41) ii. Malem (36), Saragthem Anand Singh iii.Pishak Singh@Ningthoujam Karna (27) iv. Thongam Phalguni @Urikpa @khoithoi (27) v. Ningthoujam Manoranjan Singh @ Khagemba (21) vi. Thouna @ Morangthem Johnson (21) Items recovered from their possession included the following: Three 5.56 mm INSAS rifles with four magazines, 5.56 mm AMOGH rifle along with live magazines were seized from the arrested militants.

The firearms appear to be the stolen weapons from police armories. Investigational purposes involved the use of forensic teams and magistrates. At Raj Medicity Hospital, the injured militant subsequently passed away from their wounds. He is a Thoubal Khunou resident named Laishram Prem Singh, age 18. The deceased’s family filed a missing person’s report after they went missing on August 13, 2024. He was residing in Kakching Khunou after joining PREPAK.