Imphal, 18 Nov

A protester was killed in firing during a clash between security forces and a mob that was vandalising properties in Manipur's Jiribam district, police said on Monday.

Police confirmed that one person was killed in firing but said it was not immediately clear who opened fire, while eyewitnesses claimed the firing came from the direction of the security forces.

The incident took place late on Sunday night when agitators were vandalising properties at Babupara in Jiribam police station area to protest the killing of women and children abducted by militants. "One person was killed in firing... it was not immediately clear who opened fire," a police officer said.

The deceased has been identified as K Athouba, who was in his twenties, he said.

The offices of the Congress and BJP, and a house belonging to Jiribam's Independent MLA were ransacked by a group of agitators. They brought furniture, paper and other things out of the properties and made a bonfire out of them in front of the buildings, officials said.

Earlier on Sunday, the body of another man, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, was found near Jiribam town and it was kept in the district hospital.

Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed in Imphal Valley, where curfew remained enforced and internet services suspended after agitators vandalised and set ablaze properties belonging to several ministers and legislators.

Markets and business establishments, barring pharmacies, remained closed, while public transport was off the roads but a few private vehicles were seen on the roads.

Security forces have intensified patrolling in parts of Imphal and increased deployment at many of the residences of legislators as well as all major roads leading to the secretariat, state BJP headquarters and Raj Bhavan.

The National People's Party (NPP), which has seven MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, on Sunday withdrew support from the BJP-led government, claiming that the N Biren Singh dispensation has "completely failed to resolve the crisis and restore normalcy" in the northeastern state.

The withdrawal of support, however, would not have any impact on the BJP government, as the saffron party enjoys a majority with its 32 MLAs. The saffron camp has also the support of five MLAs of the Naga People's Front (NPF) and six JD(U) legislators.

Manipur has seen a fresh wave of protests after six people went missing from a camp for displaced persons in Jiribam on Monday, following a gunfight between armed men and security forces that resulted in the deaths of 10 Kuki youths.

On Sunday, the bodies of two persons, believed to be among the six missing people from Jiribam, were found floating in the Barak River in neighbouring Cachar district of Assam.

Two days ago, the bodies of three persons, also from the same group, were found floating in the Jiri River in Jiribam and brought to Silchar Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examinations.

According to senior police officer officers of Assam, bodies of five missing persons have been found so far.

A BJP MLA's ancestral house was vandalised in Imphal Valley on Sunday, while a building owned by Ashab Uddin, the Independent legislator of Jiribam, was ransacked, officials said.

The incidents occurred a day after irate mobs set fire to the residences of three BJP legislators, one of whom is a senior minister, and a Congress MLA in various districts of Imphal Valley where an indefinite curfew has been clamped.

The properties of three other state ministers and six MLAs were attacked earlier on Saturday.

Security forces also foiled the attempt of the agitators to storm the ancestral residence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday evening. Curfew was imposed for an indefinite period in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Kakching districts of Imphal Valley "due to developing law and order situation", he said.

The state administration suspended internet services in seven districts.

More than 220 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.

The ethnically diverse Jiribam, which was largely untouched by the clashes in Imphal Valley and the adjoining hills, witnessed violence after the mutilated body of a farmer was found in a field in June this year.