Local farmers of Chanung village in Imphal East district ran for their lives from farmland at the fringe of Imphal valley after several gunshots were heard at around 10:30 this morning. The villagers in the area claimed they heard 15–16 rounds of firing, triggering panic.
However, the state police, through social media, claimed that they received no such report of firing from the area and refuted the report, stating that no information about firing was received by either the Yaingangpokpi or Sagolmang Police Stations.
The villagers of the area expressed concern that such an incident is not the first in the state; there have also been similar instances in other areas targeting farmers to intimidate them.
In response, the Farmers Wing of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) issued a sharp statement condemning what it described as the repeated denial of real threats.
“Will the police only acknowledge the gunfire when bullets finally hit the farmers?” questioned the COCOMI Farmers Wing convenor. The group emphasized a worrying pattern of firing incidents in peripheral villages near Kuki settlements, asserting that such attacks have become a persistent threat to farmers.
