Serou villagers on Saturday refuted the claims of attacks by Kuki militants at Serou mayai leikai on August 31 as circulated in the media, and clarified that no such incident occurred in the village.
Speaking at a press meet held in Serou, one Thongam Ingocha from Serou market, said that Serou village bordering Churachandpur district was earlier attacked by suspected Kuki militants at midnight on May 28, setting ablaze Meitei houses and forcing them to flee for their lives. He asserted that many are seeking refuge in various relief camps.
Following the terror attack, a combined team of Assam Rifles, BSF and State force cleared the militants from the village and intensified measures to guard the village from such attacks. He maintained that there have been no untoward incidents in the village since.
Ingocha refuted the news circulated in the media stating that the village was again attacked by Kuki militants and termed it as false news. He stated that such misleading information has renewed fear and apprehension among the villagers and urged those concerned to fact-check before circulating news.
There were no shootings by Kuki militants towards Serou from Phainom village, as circulated in the media, Ingocha said. He asserted that the gunshots were actually from within Phainom village.
The situation in the village is recovering slowly, he claimed, adding that the villagers have even started carrying out farming activities with help from the state forces. He also took the opportunity to thank local MLA K Ranjit for ensuring essential farming supplies to the villagers.
He further said that there are around 360 acres of agricultural land in the village, adding that cultivation has begun in most of the paddy fields. Ingocha, however, said that some of the paddy fields are near Kuki-dominated areas, hence the villagers are unable to carry out farming there.
He also pointed out that students of the village, who were long deprived of their education are finally able to attend classes with the opening of the United Public School, a private school in the village.
Ingocha further appealed to all the villagers from Serou staying at various relief camps to return to the village and live together.
