3 bodies found in Manipur's Barak river

GUWAHATI: Bodies of a woman and two children were found floating in the Barak river at Jirimukh in Manipur's conflict-ridden Jiribam Friday, raising fears that these could be of three of the six missing inmates of a camp for the displaced near which security forces killed 10 Hmar "militants" on November 11.

A security official said the bodies, spotted by residents of the area, were retrieved and sent to Silchar Medical College and Hospital in neighbouring south Assam for autopsy and identification.

"We cannot confirm if the three bodies are of those among the three women and as many children reported missing for five days. We have to wait for the autopsy findings," the official said.

Those reported missing are a 25-year-old woman and her eight-month-old daughter and two-year-old son, a 31-year-old woman and her eight-year-old daughter, and a 60-year-old woman.

Manipur Police said two senior officers were stationed in Jiribam and Borobekra to supervise and coordinate operations by multiple teams to trace the six missing people.

Amid all this, inspector Sagapam Ibotombi Singh, officer-in-charge of Jiribam police station, submitted his resignation to the DGP, citing "unavoidable circumstances of my family and other reasons". He was transferred out immediately, sources said.

Singh, a recipient of the President's a Medal for Gallantry on two occasions, was leading the police team that joined CRPF in the counteroffensive following an attack on two posts of the paramilitary force. The Kuki-Zo community insists that the 10 "militants" killed in retaliatory gunfire were Hmar "volunteers" safeguarding their villages from attacks by intruders.