GUWAHATI: Unidentified assailants killed a 41-year-old
migrant
labourer from Jharkhand and wounded two fellow workers from the same state in a shooting around 8pm on Saturday in Imphal, marking the first instance of an
attack
on people from outside the
Northeast
since ethnic conflict erupted in Manipur in May last year.
The body of the deceased, identified as Ram Hangsada, is kept at the morgue of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal.
Bittu Murmu, 22, and Mitalan Soren, 50, are recuperating at Raj Medicity in Imphal East, police said Sunday.
"The trio came from Godda district in Jharkhand. The wounded men's condition is stable," an officer said. Real estate developers and construction companies had hired them for a project. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, said the officer.
"The shooting occurred outside their rented accommodation. Locals rushed to the area immediately after hearing gunshots and found a body and the two men on the ground," the officer said. According to sources, the assailants dragged the
labourers
out before shooting them at close range. Police have registered a suo motu case.
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