KCP leader shot dead by gunmen

IMPHAL, March 17: A 'commander-in-chief' of the underground Kangleipak Communist Party, KCP, Puthem Ibomcha, alias Leichil, was gunned down by some unidentified gunmen suspected to belong to a rival group in the early hours today at Yumnam Patlou, under Lamlai police station. According to a reliable source, Leichil and at least nine other members of his group were overpowered and abducted by a group of unidentified armed men from a camp at Ekou last Thursday evening at around 8 pm. Leichil was found dead with a bullet through his chest and his hand tied behind his back near a foothill at Yumnam Patlou early this morning. The fate of the other nine kidnapped along with him is unknown. Police believe his killers to be members of a rival group. Leichil, 35, son of the late Tombi of Takhel Mamang Leikai, joined the KCP after leaving home soon after his parents died in 1993. Relatives said he has never returned home since.