Abduction In Jiribam: Three Meitei Bodies Found in Barak River Amid Ongoing Violence, Brought to SMCH for Autopsy

A high-level meeting involving the Superintendent of Police of Cachar, Numal Mahatta, the Deputy Inspector General of the Southern Range, Kankan Jyoti Saikia, and others is being held at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. This meeting was convened after three dead bodies were brought to Silchar.

Barak Bulletin can confirm that the three bodies brought to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) are among the six individuals who went missing from Jiribam. The bodies were discovered by locals upstream in the Barak River at Jirimukh, under the jurisdiction of Manipur Police. Sources indicate that Manipur Police, along with Assam Rifles and other central forces, escorted the bodies to SMCH.

Our correspondent at SMCH reports that the morgue is heavily guarded. Of the three deceased, two are believed to be minors, while the third is a woman. For context, a gunfight occurred between security forces and alleged Kuki militants at Jakuradhor near Borobekra Police Station, resulting in the deaths of 10 militants. On the same night, six individuals from a refugee camp were abducted. The six have been identified as Yurembam Rani Devi (60), Telam Thobi Devi (31), Telam Thajamanbi Devi (8), Laishram Chingkheinganba Singh (2.5), and Laishram Langamba Singh (8 months).

While it has been confirmed that the three bodies belong to the missing six, their exact identities are yet to be established.

Violence initially erupted on 7 November 2024, in Zairawn Hmar village, a tribal settlement, where 21 houses were torched, and a female teacher from the Hmar community was burned alive. The Indigenous Tribal Advocacy Committee issued a statement blaming the “Meitei terrorist organisation and Arambai Tenggol association” for the violence. This incident was followed by a gunfight between alleged Kuki militants and security forces. The bodies of the 10 militants remain at SMCH, as Manipur Police await DNA matching. Meanwhile, hundreds from the Hmar community have gathered outside SMCH to claim the bodies.

The ongoing violence in Manipur is now threatening peace in Assam’s Cachar district, where both Hmar and Meitei communities coexist. The tension has the potential to disrupt harmony in the region.