Violence Erupts in Manipur: One Killed, Three Arrested Amid Tensions Between Communities

A 45-year-old man belonging to the Kuki-Zo community was shot dead by armed miscreants in a forested area in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on Tuesday. The incident occurred around 8am near P Molding village, when the man, identified as Paolen Khongsai, and one other person were heading to gather bamboo shoots. Khongsai sustained fatal gunshot injuries and died on the spot, while the other man, Laldenga, managed to escape unhurt. A case has been registered at the Leimakhong Police Station. The incident comes a day after three Meitei men were killed and as many were injured in an attack by suspected Kuki militants near Nongsum Hills in Imphal East district. Manipur Police on Tuesday arrested three persons in connection with Monday’s attack. Security forces also recovered a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives, including three IEDs, ADGP Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo said on Tuesday. Addressing the media at the Police Headquarters in Imphal, Lhatoo said two of the arrested individuals had admitted during preliminary interrogation to being part of the assault team involved in the attack. The role of the third accused is under investigation, and efforts are underway to identify and apprehend other individuals involved in the incident, Lhatoo added. The seized firearms included an INSAS rifle, an M16 rifle, an A1 rifle, an AK series rifle, a 7.62 mm sniper rifle, a 5.56 mm Heckler & Koch rifle, three 12-bore single-barrel guns, a Lethode gun, and a handmade rocket launcher. The total seizure comprised 12 firearms and 1,095 live rounds of various calibres. The ADGP said the arms and ammunition were recovered based on disclosures made by the accused. Explosive materials, including TNT slabs, locally made Pompi bombs and a Chinese hand grenade; radio sets, uniforms and poppy seeds were also recovered. In a separate operation launched at around 4 am on Tuesday, joint teams of Manipur Police, the CRPF, CoBRA, the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles and the Army conducted searches in the area surrounding Sinai camp, a designated sub-camp of a Suspension of Operations (SoO) group. Seventeen individuals were detained for verification after their identities did not match those of the cadres listed with the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) associated with the camp. Senior officers of Manipur Police, the BSF and the CRPF also conducted helicopter surveillance over the areas where the operations were underway. The recent incidents have raised fears in the region of renewed violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities after a brief period of relative calm. On Tuesday, Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh convened a meeting with representatives of the INDIA bloc and leaders of various political parties at the Secretariat in Imphal. The meeting reviewed the overall law-and-order situation in the state following the recent violence. In a post on X, the Chief Minister called it a cordial meeting with INDIA bloc representatives led by former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and including Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader K Meghachandra Singh, MP Angomcha Bimol, MLA Surjakumar Singh and others. “I gave them a patient hearing and assured them that the matters would be looked into seriously. We also had a constructive discussion on maintaining peace and collective efforts for the restoration of normalcy in the state,” the CM wrote on X.