Guwahati, Dec 9: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that at least 13 people were killed in a gun fight in Leithao village near Saibol in the Tengnoupal district, Manipur.

Reportedly, the incident happened on December 4, 2023.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a serious issue of human rights violations, which is a matter of concern. The incident, as reported, indicates towards lapse on the part of the law enforcing agencies and the forces deployed to ensure peace and law and order in the state.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Manipur, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks. It should include the status of the FIR registered by the police and steps taken by the State government to ensure that such incidents of violence do not take place anywhere in the State.

The Commission has further observed that the reported loss of 13 human lives, that too in an area which remained calm since the tension erupted in the State of Manipur in May this year, is indeed alarming and disturbing.

The NHRC, since May 2023, has received several complaints from individuals/ NGOs and human rights activists alleging violation of human rights during the incidents of violence in Manipur.

These matters are being considered by the Full Bench of the Commission and were also discussed at length during its Camp Sitting at Guwahati in Assam on November 17, 2023. The senior officers from the government of Manipur, as well as the representatives of the complainants and civil society were also present.

According to the media report, carried on 5th December, 2023, the village has nine houses and around 120 residents. However, no casualties were reported from among the villagers. Reportedly, this is the highest single day loss of life in the violence since it erupted in Manipur this year, in May.

Prima-facie it is suspected that the victims of the violence could even be militants from Myanmar, since the nearby hills from Leithao are a common route adopted by them to enter Manipur from Myanmar.