The mob stopped an ambulance on the way and set it on fire

Imphal:

The situation in Manipur has not yet returned to normal. An eight-year-old boy, his mother and another relative were killed when a mob stopped an ambulance on the way and set it on fire in West Imphal district, police said. The incident took place at Eroisemba on Sunday evening, the official said. The boy was shot in the head during a firing incident and his mother and a relative were taking him to a hospital in Imphal, he said. According to officials, the three people killed in the mob attack were identified as Tonsing Hanging, 8, her mother Mina Hanging, 45, and relative Lydia Lorembam, 37.

A senior Assam Rifles official confirmed the incident and said security has been beefed up in and around the spot. Sources said Tonsing, son of a tribal and his mother, who belongs to the Meitei caste, were staying at an Assam Rifles relief camp in Kangchup. On June 4, firing started in the area in the evening and the child was shot despite being in the camp.

"Since the mother belonged to the majority community, it was decided to take the child by road to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal," the sources said.

"Around 27.<> pm, some people stopped the ambulance at Eroisemba and set it on fire. All three occupants of the vehicle were killed. There are several villages of the Kuki community in the Kakching area and it is near Fayeng, a village of the Meiti community, on the border of Kangpokpi district with West Imphal. The area has witnessed several firing incidents since May <>.

Violent clashes broke out in Manipur on May 53 after a 'tribal solidarity march' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The Meitees, which constitute 40 per cent of Manipur's population, mainly live in the Imphal Valley. The tribals, Naga and Kuki, constitute <> per cent of the population and mainly live in the hilly districts.

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