Man, son among 3 of 4 missing found dead in Manipur

IMPHAL: A man and his son were among three people found dead with gunshots to the head in the foothills of Manipur's Bishnupur district on Thursday, a day after the victims and a fourth villager went missing in a forested patch adjoining Churachandpur while out collecting firewood. One of the slain men also had his throat slit, police said.
The bodies of Ibomcha Singh (51), his son Anand (20) and fellow villager Romen Singh (38) were found around 10am at Wangoo Sabal Maning Ching Meichakpo in Churachandpur, close to a Mahar Regiment military post.The fourth person reported missing, Ahanthem Dara (56), is suspected to have been killed, too. A joint Army and police team was scouring the area for him until late in the evening.
Unidentified group releases video owning up to killings
An unidentified armed group put out a video on Wednesday, claiming to have taken the missing villagers captive and killed all four.
Thoudam Bicha, who lost her husband and son in the latest act of violence to strike Manipur, blamed BJP-led government for the killings. She refused to accept the duo's bodies until the perpetrators were caught and prosecuted. Residents of the area, part of Kumbi assembly constituency, questioned how anybody could commit a crime of this magnitude in the vicinity of an Army post.
In a gunfight coinciding with the village quartet being reported missing, suspected militants fired 20 rounds and hurled bombs from the Dampi hill range towards Haotak Tampha Khunou, under Kumbi police station of Bishnupur. The assault triggered an exodus of women and children from the area to safer locations, police said.
Since May last year, Manipur has been in the throes of an ethnic flare-up that has cleaved the state into two - the tribal-dominant hill districts and the valley. Armed groups have stoked this mistrust with repeated attacks on civilians and security forces.