Manipur
Sanabam Jugindro, Advisor of the Civil Organisations, Yairipok Yambem, talking to newsmen about the plight of jawans at Moreh.

Imphal: A 23-year-old jawan of the Manipur Rifles died of dengue at Moreh, India’s gateway to the South East Asian countries on Sunday night, official sources said in Imphal on Monday.

Sanabam Bungcha, 23, a jawan of the Manipur Rifles currently attached to the 5th India Reserve Battalion stationed at Moreh border town died of dengue shock syndrome, the sources said.

Sanabam Bungcha, a resident of Yairipok Yambem of Manipur’s Thoubal district is the first victim of Dengue in Manipur this year.

His death has highlighted the lack of medical facilities in Moreh, which is a remote border town with poor connectivity.

Bungcha could not be evacuated to a hospital in Imphal due to the prevailing ethnic violence between the Kukis and Meiteis. The tribal women had blocked the road to Imphal in protest against the Meiteis. Bungcha was a Meitei.

The state health services have said that over 113 cases of Dengue have been detected in Manipur this year.

A total of 503 Dengue cases were reported last year in the state. Out of 16 districts in the state, Imphal West district recorded the highest number of vector-borne diseases.