Imphal. Tension escalated in Imphal West after a 55-year-old Meitei man went missing on Monday amid the ongoing violence in Manipur. The man, Laishram Kamalbabu Singh from Loitang Khunau in Imphal West, had gone for work at Leimakhong Army Camp in Kangpokpi on Monday (November 26) afternoon and has been missing since then. His family members told that his phone was switched off around 2 pm on Monday afternoon.
A Meitei person missing again in Manipur
There was tension in parts of Imphal West district bordering Kangpokpi on Tuesday as a 55-year-old man belonging to the Meitei community in Manipur went missing for more than 24 hours. The officers provided this information. Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a resident of Loitang Khunau village in Imphal West, had left home on Monday afternoon to go for work at Leimakhong military camp in Kangpokpi and has been missing since then, he said. Officials said that the mobile phone of missing Singh is switched off.
Police and army jointly started search operation
“The police and the army have jointly launched a search operation,” a police officer said. According to the missing man’s family, Singh used to do odd jobs at the Limakhong military camp. This area is surrounded by Kuki dominated area. People of the Meitei community living near Limakhong have fled the area since the beginning of the ethnic violence. More than 250 people have died in caste violence since May last year. Police meanwhile said that a large number of people from Singh’s village had come out to search for him on the way to Limakhong but security forces stopped them near Kanto Sabal to prevent the situation from worsening.
The crowd blocked the road with stones
According to the police, after being stopped, the mob blocked the road with stones. “Barricades have been put up on the road to Limakhong to prevent movement of civilians without permission,” a police official said. With time the crowd of people increased and hundreds of people along with the workers of Mira Paibi gathered at the spot. He claimed that there was a possibility of Singh being kidnapped by militants.
He requested the state government to send additional forces to rescue them. “We will wait here until he is found and handed over to us,” said Mira Paibi activist Khaidem Ibeton. We want the government to pay immediate attention to this issue and send additional forces to search for the missing person.
