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Three people were killed in Manipur’s valley districts on Saturday in two separate incidents, including two migrant workers from Bihar, and an alleged militant worker who was shot during a police encounter.

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Two teenage construction workers from Bihar were shot dead by unknown assailants in Kakching district on Saturday evening. The victims, identified as Sunalal Kumar, 18, and Dasharat Kumar, 17, from Rajwahi village in Bihar’s Gopalganj district, were living in Meitei-dominated Kakching when they were attacked near the panchayat office at Kakching at around 5.20 pm -Wabagai Road. .

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The motive for the attack on the migrants was not known and was unlikely to be sparked by the ethnic strife between Meiteis and Kukis in the state, a conflict that has left the region significantly paralyzed.

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Earlier on Saturday, Manipur Police commandos killed a suspected militant and arrested six others in an exchange of gunfire at Salungpham Maning Leikai in Thoubal district. The deceased, identified as 16-year-old Laishram Priyam alias Loktak, was reportedly a member of the banned PREPAK group.

Acting on intelligence about armed elements in the area, police conducted a combing operation near Salungpham High School around 9:30 am. During the ensuing gunfight, Priyam suffered a gunshot wound to his right abdomen and later succumbed to his injuries at Raj Medicity Hospital in Imphal, officials said.

The operation led to significant weapons seizures, including three INSAS rifles, one SLR rifle, one .303 rifle and one AMOGH rifle, along with multiple magazines and ammunition. The police have also seized a four-wheeler.

Speaking at the JNIMS mortuary, the late militant’s mother Laishram Geetamala revealed that her son had left home three months ago “to defend the villages from sporadic attacks by Kuki militants.” She added that he was preparing for his High School Leaving Certificate examination.

“End this ongoing crisis,” she appealed to the state and central governments. “If the violence is not stopped, many families will face the same pain I am experiencing today.”

The six arrested PREPAK cadres have been identified as Thokchom Momocha, 41; Sarangthem Anand Singh, 36; Ningthoujam Karna Singh, 27; Ningthoujam Manoranjan, 21; Thongam Phalguni, 27; and Moiranghem Johnson, 21.

Senior PREPAK militants have become increasingly active in the valley districts.