Soldier on leave abducted from Manipur home, killed

The soldier was from Manipur’s Kom tribe, which is separate from both the Meitei and Kuki-Zomi communities which are currently in conflict with each other in the state.

Kom’s 10-year-old son was reportedly the only eyewitness to the abduction, and told police that three miscreants had entered their home while they were working on the porch. According to the boy’s statement, his father was forced into a white-coloured vehicle at gunpoint, and driven away.

Kom’s body was found on Sunday morning, at about 9.30 am, at Khuningthek village, under the jurisdiction of Sagolmang Police Station in Imphal East.

His cousin, Pachung Kom, said the perpetrators may have been people known to the dead soldier, as they singled him out and abducted him from his home. “He had returned from Leimakhong just a few days back. They entered the residential gate and took him away at gunpoint, which seems like a personal attack,” he said.

According to an Army spokesperson, the body was identified by Kom’s brother and brother-in-law, who said he had been killed by a single bullet in the head. The post-mortem report is awaited.

“The brave soldier who breathed his last at the hands of miscreants is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. The last rites shall be conducted as per the wishes of the family. Army has rushed a team to assist the bereaved family in all manners possible. Army strongly condemns the killing of Sep Serto Thangthang Kom and stands by his family in these difficult times,” stated the spokesperson.

The Koms, a small tribal community mostly settled in the peripheral areas of Imphal Valley, have expressed concern about being sandwiched between the two warring communities.

Last month, former Rajya Sabha MP and boxing champion M C Mary Kom – who is also from the community – had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking his intervention to prevent the conflict in Manipur from affecting the Kom tribe.