Bodies of Kuki Youths Airlifted from Cachar Amid Protests & Clashes with Police

The bodies of 10 Kuki youths, who were killed in a CRPF firing in Jiribam, Manipur, were airlifted from the Masimpur locality in the Cachar district amidst protests demanding the bodies be transported by road. The Hmar tribe, a tribal community, has been urging that the bodies be sent to Churachandpur instead of Imphal, citing that Churachandpur has a larger tribal population compared to the Manipuri Meitei population in Imphal.

One tribal member from the Hmar tribe spoke to the media, saying, “As we approached to receive the dead bodies of the Kuki youths from the morgue at Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH), the Assam police lathi-charged us. We have been demanding that for the last three days, the bodies should be transported to Manipur via roadways. But, the demand was not fulfilled. As of now, we have accepted the airlift thing and the arrangement of transportation has been made already.”

The bodies were first taken from the medical college to the Masimpur camp of the Assam Rifles helipad in Cachar, where they were airlifted by two Government of Manipur helicopters to Churachandpur, Manipur.

Earlier, a tense situation erupted outside the Silchar Medical College when police clashed with members of the Kuki and Hmar communities. Reports indicate that stones were allegedly thrown at Assam police personnel by the agitated crowd, prompting the police to use a lathi charge to regain control. The unrest stemmed from the bodies of the 10 Kuki youths killed by CRPF firing in Jiribam, Manipur, last Monday. The Manipur government had claimed that the deceased were suspected Kuki militants. Although autopsies were conducted at Silchar Medical College, the bodies had not been released to the families, fueling discontent.

Tribal residents, including the families of the deceased, gathered multiple times outside the medical college demanding the bodies be returned. Today, the Manipur government had planned to airlift the bodies from Masimpur to Jiribam, but the attempt was blocked by hundreds of Kuki men and women, along with bereaved families, who insisted that the bodies should not be moved by helicopter.

As the situation escalated, members of the community threw stones at the police, leading to a lathi charge. The Cachar police, along with paramilitary forces, have been deployed to maintain order at the medical premises. Senior officials, including the DIG and the Superintendent of Police, arrived at the scene to oversee the security measures.

Cachar Superintendent of Police, Numal Mahatta, told the media, “We had a word with the agitated tribal people here and tried to resolve the matter. The bodies have been airlifted from Assam Rifles’ Masimpur camp. There was a misunderstanding between the tribal people while we were trying to dispose of the dead bodies of the Kuki youths from SMCH. However, after we reached here and had a word with them, the matter was resolved. We won’t allow anyone to create a law and order situation in the Cachar district. The bodies of the Kuki youths have been brought to SMCH for post-mortem.”