IMPHAL, January 20: Itham villagers today alleged that KNF (N) cadres have threatened them after locals caught some cadres of the outfit who were extorting truck owners and handed them over to the police along with their guns.
The KNF (N) cadres have also been warning them that if they cannot return their weapons they should pay Rs 10 lakhs to the outfit and even shot some rounds of gunshots in the village yesterday, they claimed.
The villagers said they have been suffering under the Kuki UGs for long, and will not yield anymore to them, but instead get licence guns for each family to fight them off.
A team of media persons visited the village and interacted with its residents today.
The villagers claimed that the KNF (N) has also warned that any villager living in and around Kuki areas are restricted from entering the Kuki inhabited areas and will be shot death if they do so.
Yesterday evening around 5:30, a group of KNF (N) cadres came down from the hills located between Itham and Schang Kuki Village and fired several rounds of gun-shots towards Itham Village, according to the villagers.
This has created a fear psychosis in the village, they said.
During the visit today, the media team found the villagers staying together in groups fearing more such attacks from the militant cadres.
The villagers also condemned the crimes committed by the KNF (N) and said the situation is tense in the area.
At present a team of BSF personnel posted at Moirangpurel Post is giving protection to the Itham Village.
Briefing the media team at the village community hall, Yaipha Thourang Club general secretary Somorjit said for the past many years Kuki UG groups often come to the villages located in between the hills and valley under Andro constituency.
We have been suffering under the Kuki UGs for long, and now we have decided to protect ourselves from their threats and intimation by getting licence guns for each families of the village, he said adding that we will sell our whole properties if needed to get the licenced weapons.
He further appealed to the government to help in getting the needed licenses at the earliest.
Somorjit said the UGs collect illegal tax from truck owners of Itham Village and other labourers working as sand washer.
He recounted in 2009, the Itham Villagers had gone to Bongbal Khullen to meet some senior leaders of the KNF (P) to chalk out the issue of extortion committed by their cadres from the village; however the leaders denied that the cadres belong to the outfit.
The leaders had claimed the cadres to be imposters, he said and added on their advise the Itham villagers started catching any person coming to extort money.
The issue was later sorted out through negotiation, he said.
However, a few years later, the Kuki UG cadres came to a Kuki Village near Itham and started demanding illegal tax from several truck owners, he added.
On January 16 around 1pm, four cadres of the KNF (N) with AK 47 guns extorted money from trucks loading sand from the bed of Thoubal River, he narrated.
The cadres even assaulted a truck driver and threatened the labourers by blank firing, he continued.
However, when locals including womenfolk tried to disperse them, they tried to fire upon the locals, luckily their weapons jammed and they tried to flee from the scene, he said.
They were caught by the people along with their weapons and handed over to a combined team of Lamlai Police and BSF, he added.
In this regard, civil organisations of the Kuki and the Meitei were to hold a talk today, but the militant cadres fired upon Itham Village yesterday, he said.
Somorjit said in the meantime some Kuki Village chiefs have informed Itham Village that the UGs have warned that any Meitei coming to Kuki Villages will be shot death.
The UGs have also demanded the Itham Village to return their weapons and cadres who have been handed over to the police, he said.
Somorjit at the same time said that since they have imposed the restriction on Meiteis, the Itham Village will also impose a similar restriction in our area.
Since Itham Village is not responsible for the incident, we will not give any money nor give any customary treatment, he added.
