Three empty trucks were set on fire in violence-hit Manipur’s Imphal West district on Saturday, police said.

The incident happened at Awang Sekmai in Sekmai police station area, they said. The trucks, used for transporting LPG cylinders, were parked in an open field when they were torched, they said.

Those behind the incident are yet to be identified, police said, adding that it was not immediately clear why the trucks were set on fire.

Security forces tried to douse the blaze, but could not save the trucks, they said. A case was filed in connection with the incident, police said.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) has accused the Meira Paibis, Meitei womenfolk of being behind the torching of the three trucks. In a statement of condemnation, the forum claimed that the trucks were owned by a Kuki-Zo tribal of Sekmai village.

On Saturday evening, a woman was shot dead and her face disfigured in Sawombung area of Manipur’s Imphal East district, officials said here.

The woman in her mid-50s was shot in her face at her residence by some armed men, they said. The gunmen also disfigured her face before fleeing, they added.

The area has been cordoned off and Manipur Police personnel were carrying out searches and raiding some of the houses in the nearby locality.

Statements of people around the incident area are being recorded, the officials said.

The woman, who was believed to have some mental health issues, was from the Maring Naga community.