Four labourers shot dead amid ongoing violence in Manipur

 Five-six armed miscreants came when the labourers were tiling the farmland and shot them from point-blank range

Paramilitary personnel arrive at the spot where abandoned houses were set ablaze by miscreants at New Lambulane, in Imphal, Manipur. Photograph: ANI Photo

Four people were shot dead in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Thursday evening as ethnic violence continued in the northeastern state, the police said.

The incident occurred at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou and the victims included a man and his 60-year-old father.

Quoting one person who escaped the shooting, an official said, "Five-six armed miscreants came when the labourers were tiling the farmland and shot them from point-blank range."

After shooting them down, the miscreants fled to the hill ranges from where they had come, the official added.

With these four, at least seven people including two police commandos were killed in separate districts of the state since Wednesday.

Manipur has been rocked by ethnic violence since May last year and over 180 people were killed.

The violence erupted 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 status.

Meiteis account for about 53 percent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 percent and reside mostly in the hill districts.