GUWAHATI: Gunfire was heard on Tuesday night in Manipur’s Bishnupur district bordering Churachandpur district, sparking fresh tensions among people in the ethnic violence-hit state. 

The locals of Torbung and Phougakchao Ikhai areas reported hearing gunshots. Gunshots were also heard in a video that is being widely circulated.

The incident comes a day after 389 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had returned to their homes in the Bishnupur areas after spending more than two and a half years in the relief camps.

Phougakchao Ikhai was among the areas to be first hit by the ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023. The violence had left more than 260 people dead and an estimated 60,000 others internally displaced.

A large majority of the displaced people from both the Meitei and Kuki communities are still lodged in relief camps in different districts. Earlier, the state government announced that they would be resettled in three phases by December this year.

During her visit to the state last week, President Droupadi Murmu had called upon all communities to keep supporting the efforts for peace.