India, June 20 -- The coordinating committee on Manipur integrity (COCOMI), an apex Meitei civil body, issued a statement on Friday urging the government to take necessary action to counter the growing violence during the ongoing cultivation season.

This comes a day after a 60-year-old farmer, Ningthoujam Biren, sustained a bullet injury on his left arm after he was allegedly shot by Kuki militants while working in his paddy field at Phubala in Bishnupur district.

"We have been alerting the authorities for years. The current pattern of security deployment is clearly inadequate. Armed militants are targeting farmers in their fields, and this latest incident only reinforces our warnings," COCOMI convenor Khuraijam Athouba said.

A clash a...