Manipur violence: 5 Meiteis dead, 4 BSF personnel injured

livemint.com:

Manipur govt mulls to re-examine ST status of Kuki, Chin tribes With these four, at least seven people including two police commandos were killed in separate districts of the state since Wednesday. Police said they are investigating the case. According to media reports, the four Meiteis who were shot dead yesterday were tilling a farm when they came under attack.

In a separate incident earlier in the morning, a gunfight broke out between armed village volunteers at Kangchup in Imphal West district, where a 23-year-old identified as Takhelambam Manoranjan, a Meitei, was killed. Fresh violence erupts between security forces, Kuki militants in Manipur's Moreh Following the killing, women in large numbers held a rally in Imphal on Thursday to protest against violence in the state and demanded the removal of the chairman of the inter-agency Unified Command. Kuldiep Singh was appointed to the post of chairman of the Unified Command of the state and central forces in May last year by the Manipur governor.

The women protesters took out the rally from the main market area of Imphal and marched towards the CM Bungalow and the Raj Bhavan. Manipur's Moreh remains tense as militants kill 2 cops, women block road Singh said the current locations of the three state police commando were unsuitable, making them vulnerable targets. Singh has decided to relocate the three commando units to other areas of the border town.

Manipur has been rocked by ethnic violence since May last year and over 180 people were killed. The violence erupted on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53% of Manipur’s