Protests erupted after six bodies, believed to have been kidnapped from the Meitei community were recovered on Friday.Police in the northeast Indian state of Manipur have arrested 23 people for ransacking and setting fires to the homes of lawmakers and ministers in the capital Imphal as protests erupted on Saturday following the discovery of six bodies.
Protesters are demanding accountability for the attacks in the region after the six deceased, believed to have been kidnapped from the Meitei community, were recovered on Friday.
Since May 2023, intercommunal clashes between the Hindu Meitei and Christian Kuki communities have resulted in at least 250 deaths and displaced 60,000 people in the region.
The bodies of a woman and a two-year-old child, believed to be members of a missing Meitei family, were found in a river on Sunday. A Kuki man’s body was also found on Sunday, but authorities are yet to confirm the cause of death; however, they said it “could be linked to the violence”.
Tensions in Manipur flared last week when a 31-year-old woman from the Kuki tribal community was burned alive. Kuki groups have blamed Meitei rebels for the attack.
A senior state police official told the Reuters news agency on Sunday that the situation in the area was “relatively calm today but unpredictable”. The police also imposed an indefinite curfew on Saturday and suspended internet and mobile services.
Police said they fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob as eight peo …
