Imphal: At least 28 persons are missing and as many as 1555 others sustained injuries in the ongoing ethnic violence was triggered after clashes erupted between Kuki and Meitei communities on May 3 last year, chief minister, Biren Singh said on Tuesday.

As per official records, 63 cases of missing persons related to the violence have been lodged in the state since last May.

“Out of them, 26 missing persons were declared dead while investigation is underway for two missing persons” Singh said. Nine among the 63 missing people were found alive, Singh said. He was responding to a question by opposition Congress MLA Surjakumar Okram, lawmaker from the Khangabok assembly constituency, on the last day of the state assembly here.

Singh said 1429 persons of the 1555 injured persons were civilians while 88 belonged to the state police and 28 were from the central security forces; among them, 334 sustained bullet injuries. “The government has been providing financial assistance to the injured persons,” he added.

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Responding to a question by opposition congress MLA K Meghachandra from the Wangkhem assembly constituency on the status of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case of two missing students, Phijam Hemjit Singh (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi (17), Singh replied: “The CBI has reported to have filed a chargesheet against five accused persons.”

In September last year, Manipur witnessed fresh tension and widespread protests after images of the two students- Hemjit and Linthoingambi — both residents of Imphal West district and missing since July, went viral on social media days after mobile data internet was restored in the state after nearly five months.

Regarding the reconstruction of houses which were destroyed during the conflict,Singh said that 139 families were provided 50% advance payment for reconstructing their homes while 472 families were sanctioned new houses under the scheme for permanent housing.

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On Monday, Singh had informed the state assembly that altogether 221 persons have lost their lives in the ethnic conflict since May 3 last year until now: Of which,198 were civilians including 20 women and 8 children.

The government started providing ex-gratia payment to 114 victims while the verification process was underway for the remaining ones under the central and state governments’ ex-gratia scheme, he added. Earlier the state government had announced ex-gratia payment of ₹10 lakh each.

More than 50,000 people have been displaced because of the ethnic conflict, which has engulfed Manipur since May 3 last year. The the internally displaced people are housed in relief camps set up in different parts of the state.