Amid the 12-hour total shutdown enforced by CoTU in Sadar Hills in Kangpokpi district, hundreds of Kuki-Zo men and women, draped in mournful black, gathered to honour a fallen Kuki-Zo village volunteer as they solemnly laid their comrade to rest at the Martyrs' Cemetery in Sadar Hills' Phaijang village on Sunday.

The 45-year-old father of five children, Lammang Kipgen, was killed during an attack early Sunday morning at Bethel village in the Leimakhong-Kangchup region.

Following the incident, the committee enforced a 12-hour total shutdown from 12 noon until 12 midnight across the entire Sadar Hills Kangpokpi district.

On the sidelines of the burial ceremony, CoTU Media Cell Coordinator Ng Lun Kipgen said that the Kuki-Zo placed their lives in the hands of the central security forces,

But today, they just buried one volunteer who gave his life for our tomorrow following the withdrawal of the central security forces.

He said that post the withdrawal of central security forces, there has been a significant surge in the movement of armed miscreants across the fringe areas of Sadar Hills Kangpokpi district plunging the peripheral regions into chaos.

He pointed out that central security forces were initially withdrawn from certain fringe areas before the Lok Sabha polls citing election duties. But, more withdrawals took place in most Sadar Hills fringe areas.