Guwahati: The Joint Tribes Council Manipur has issued a “non-negotiable 48-hour ultimatum” to the Centre and state govt for recovering the severed head of a Naga man killed in an attack in Kangpokpi district on Saturday, and has refused to allow a post-mortem until the head is handed to his family.The headless body of Ajinbou Ringkangmai (52) was brought to Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal on Sunday night. He, along with three others, was killed in a militant attack on Makui Ashang village in Kangpokpi on Saturday.A video purportedly showing his head among heavily armed militants in camouflage went viral on Saturday.In a statement on Sunday, the council said: “The head of Ajinbou R remains missing. Post-mortem will not be conducted till his head is returned to his family members for a dignified burial. We will not allow state machinery to mutilate the remains further while his head is treated as a trophy by militants.”It held the state and central govts responsible for the renewed violence. “This heinous crime is an affront to humanity,” it said. If the head is not located and returned within 48 hours, the council warned, it will take the “most stringent measures” to secure justice.Former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh visited JNIMS hospital on Monday to pay his respects amid the arrival of the mortal remains of two Naga men, including those of Ringkangmai.As many as nine people were killed in separate incidents in Kamjong, Ukhrul and Kangpokpi on Friday and Saturday. The killings began after a woman, a mother of five, was shot dead by unknown assailants on Friday night in Chassad, a Kuki-dominated village in Naga-majority Kamjong district. Her killing set off an exchange of fire between Kuki and Naga armed groups that continued until Saturday morning.More than 50 people have been killed and dozens of houses torched in violence between the Kuki and Naga tribes since February this year. The state earlier saw ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and the Kukis of the adjoining hills, in which over 300 people were killed, 49 remain missing and thousands were displaced.
