Fresh violence in Imphal, BJP office attacked, tear gas shells fired

Police fired tear gas shells on Thursday evening to disperse a mob which had gathered at Khwairanband Bazaar in the heart of Imphal where the body of a man killed on earlier in the morning in a gunfight in Kangpokpi district was brought and placed in a traditional coffin.

Demonstrators gathered and a mob threatened to carry it in a procession to the chief minister's residence, officials said. In the melee, a BJP office was also attacked.

More than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in the northeastern state so far.

Clashes first broke out 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. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.