Bodies of 10 Hmar men airlifted to Churachandpur, but Kuki-Zo groups say no burial till autopsy reports are provided

Their bodies had been kept in the mortuary of Silchar Medical College and Hospital for five days. Several Hmar groups protested outside the hospital alleging delay in the release of the bodies.

On Saturday afternoon, tension escalated at the hospital when the authorities prepared to hand over the bodies to the police. Members of the Hmar community gathered there and demanded that the bodies be handed over to them. A physical confrontation ensued and the police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd; the situation calmed down after some time.

Some Kuki-Zo groups had announced a plan to transport the bodies to Churachandpur for final rites, bringing them through Mizoram in a procession. They were resistant to the idea of the bodies being airlifted.

A search operation underway in Manipur. (Image source: Manipur Police/X)

However, after the bodies arrived in Churachandpur, the ITLF, a Kuki-Zo group based there, did not bury the bodies, stating that the post-mortem reports were not provided by the police.

“The bodies of our martyrs cannot be claimed at the moment because no post-mortem paperwork was brought with them. Our martyrs’ bodies will be placed in the district hospital morgue until post-mortem reports are available. An expert in this field will carefully review the post-mortem documents for any inconsistencies…,” read a statement by them.

An official at SMCH said the post-mortem reports were given by the hospital to the police. “With the bodies being handed over to the police, we also handed the post-mortem reports to them and it is for the police to provide these to the families of the deceased,” said the official.