Police said the incident took place around 12:50am on Thursday, adding that taking advantage of the darkness, the assailants fled the scene before they could be caught or identified.

Police said that following the incident, a team reached the spot, and during the inspection of the area, some portions of the wall were found damaged, and five empty cases of AK-47 cartridges were recovered. 

Fortunately, no casualties were reported during the incident. A case has been registered at Churachandpur police station for further investigation, said police.

Chinlunthang was elected from the Singhat assembly constituency under the Churachandpur assembly constituency. The MLA had contested the 2017 Manipur legislative assembly election under the Kuki Peoples Alliance (KPA).

The Zenhang Lamka Village Authority, Churachandpur district, issued a joint press statement on Thursday, stating that such incidents should not be repeated, emphasising that it would not tolerate such incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) issued a press statement, mentioning that unknown armed miscreants with firearms broke into the residence of ITLF secretary Muan Tombing around 8:40pm on Wednesday.

Simultaneously, armed miscreants kidnapped Kannan Veng, the president of YPA (a local Kuki body) in Churachandpur district. Later, the same group of armed miscreants fired at the residence of the Singhat MLA and also near the residence of the president of the Vaiphei People’s Council (a Vaiphei civil body) located at Red Cross Road, Churachandpur district, the ITLF claimed.

The ITLF said that it strongly condemns the actions of the armed miscreants, which disrupted the tranquillity of the town and caused panic and terror among the populace.

The forum appealed for necessary precautionary measures to be taken by the Assam Rifles and Manipur police to prevent similar incidents in the future.