A 21-year-old man was fatally shot in Manipur early Saturday in a new shooting incident in Kangpokpi district. Security forces are currently conducting combing operations in the area.

According to a security official, the shooting began around 2:45 am near Joupi, a village in the Kuki-Zomi-dominated Kangpokpi district, which is approximately 8 km west of the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district. The shooting lasted for about 45 minutes and ended around 3:30 am, the official added.

Since the shooting occurred in a village within the Kangpokpi district, the security official suspects that it was instigated by individuals who had crossed the buffer zone between areas dominated by each community.

The victim was identified as Khupminthang Haokip, a Kuki-Zomi village volunteer.

Earlier in the week, two people from the Kuki-Zomi community were killed, also in Kangpokpi district, in what security personnel described as an ambush attack. Following this, the Committee on Tribal Unity called for a 48-hour shutdown in the district to further demand a separate administration for Kuki-Zomi territories.