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A commanding officer of the Assam Rifles, his wife and son, besides four personnel of the country's oldest paramilitary force, were killed on Saturday, November 13, 2021, in a welter of IED blasts and burst of gunfire in Manipur's Churachandpur district.
Colonel Viplav Tripathi, the commanding officer of the Assam Rifles's Khuga Battalion, his wife and son and four others died in an ambush on Saturday morning.
Colonel Tripathi's convoy was targeted at Sehkan village in Churachandpur district by suspected terrorists of the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), an insurgent group in Manipur, demanding a separate homeland.
The Assam Rifles statement suspected that the insurgent group responsible for this massacre 'must be from PREPAK cadre as the PREPAK remembrance day is celebrated on 12/13 November 2021'.
'The cowardly attack on an Assam Rifles convoy in Churachandpur, Manipur is extremely painful & condemnable. The nation has lost 5 brave soldiers including CO 46 AR and two family members. My condolences to the bereaved families. The perpetrators will be brought to justice soon,' Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
Condemning the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi said the sacrifices of the soldiers and their families will never be forgotten.
The attack is the first major attack on security forces since June 4, 2018 when an Indian Army convoy was similarly targeted in Chandel district resulting in the death of 18 personnel and injury to others. The 6 Dogra Regiment's road opening patrol was felled in the attack.
On Saturday, Improvised Explosive Devices burst on a hill road, shattering the tenuous peace in Manipur, before the Assam Rifles personnel engaged the militants in a do-or-die firefight.
Bullets rained in a torrent from hilltops covered in foliage as security personnel ducked for cover and fired from behind trees and boulders.
'Five soldiers including Colonel Viplav Tripathi, Commanding Officer of 46 Assam Rifles, have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The family of the Commanding Officer -- wife and child -- also lost their lives in the incident. DG and all ranks of Assam Rifles offer condolences to the brave soldiers and families of the deceased,' the Assam Rifles stated.
The Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force in the country raised in 1835 under British rule. It is under the home ministry's administrative jurisdiction, but reports to the Indian Army's operational control.
'During his tenure at Mizoram, under his able and energetic leadership, the Battalion has been at the forefront in Border management thwarting illegal smuggling in the IMB and hinterland. Battalion has also recovered several weapons & War like stores which could have landed in the hands of Anti National elements thus avoiding major casualties,' the Assam Rifles stated about Colonel Tripathi's previous tenure in Mizoram before he was assigned to Manipur earlier this year.
'Colonel Viplav though his remarkable endeavours bonded closely with the locals of Mizoram. The anti drug campaign conducted by his battalion in January 2021 received several laurels and praise & the awareness was rightfully created by him in the entire state including the remote villages to ensure the youth are guided in the right direction,' the Assam Rifles statement said, adding his 'goodwill for society will last an eternity.'