Imphal, July 28: The Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) has demanded an inquiry into the killing of two youths in an alleged fake encounter with police in Imphal West on Wednesday and threatened to launch an agitation if the government fails to do so.

The police has claimed that the two youths ? Paominlen Touthang, 27, of Sadar Hills and Lunlal Haokip, 26, of Sudnu in Thoubal district ? were killed in an encounter that afternoon.

They said a police team was chasing two motorcycle riders at Tarung village in Imphal West district when these two youths, who were walking nearby, hurled a hand grenade at the personnel. The latter retaliated by opening fire. The youths were killed on the spot in the encounter.

The police also claimed to have recovered a hand grenade and some incriminating documents belonging to the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) from the duo.

Refuting the claim, the Imphal branch of the students? organisation said the police had picked up the two youths from Imphal East district earlier in the day. The duo died in police custody, it added.

KSO president Z. Haokip said Touthang and Haokip were coming to Imphal town to buy medicines for the former?s wife. ?Two motorcycle-borne police personnel in plainclothes picked them up from a bus bay at Chingmeirong in Imphal East district around noon on Wednesday. They were later killed in police custody.?

The KRA also rejected the police claim that the two youths were its members. The outfit stated in a release that the two were civilians and had nothing to do with the organisation. It accused the state police of killing innocent youths in custody.

The Kuki community here condemned the killings in a meeting yesterday. The participants resolved to press for a proper inquiry into the incident and punishment to the personnel responsible for the deaths. Relatives of the two youths are yet to accept the bodies from the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences here.