Four people shot dead in continuing violence in Manipur's Bishnupur

Four people were shot dead in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Thursday evening as ethnic violence continued in the northeastern state, police said.

The incident occurred at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou and the victims included a man and his 60-year-old father.

Police said they are investigating the case.

Quoting one person who escaped the shooting, an official said, "Five-six armed miscreants came when the labourers were tiling the farmland and shot them from point-blank range."

After shooting them down, the miscreants fled to the hill ranges from where they had come, the official added.

With these four, at least seven people including two police commandos were killed in separate districts of the state since Wednesday.

Manipur has been rocked by ethnic violence since May last year and over 180 people were killed.

The violence erupted on May 3 after a Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.