Imphal:

The Manipur government has asked the police to hand over the case of attack on the ancestral house of a key Thadou tribe leader and BJP spokesperson to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The state government in a letter to the police chief said the case filed over the attack on the house of T Michael Lamjathang Haokip in Churachandpur district, where his elderly parents and some internally displaced people live, should be forwarded to the NIA as soon as possible.

“In view of the serious nature of the matter, DGP (Director General of Police), Manipur is kindly requested to submit the proposal for forwarding this case to the NIA at the earliest,” the state government said.

NDTV has seen a copy of the letter.

Mr Haokip’s house was vandalised and set on fire in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur on August 31 in the third attack at his house since the Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence began in May 2023. The attack happened on a day the Kuki tribes held protests against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who they said was responsible for the crisis, citing a leaked audio tape which the state government had called “doctored”.

Six days earlier, on August 25, over two dozen people, some of them armed, had vandalised Mr Haokip’s house and also fired shots in the air.

In a first information report (FIR), Mr Haokip had named 15 people as “directly or indirectly” responsible for the attack on his property and family. He also named two people who allegedly asked members of a WhatsApp group to kill him. One of the two promised to give “village land” to anyone who kills the state BJP spokesperson.

Mr Haokip has said the attacks and threats came as a result of him raising awareness about his tribe, Thadou, being inaccurately referred to as a Kuki tribe amid the ethnic tension in Manipur.

READ | “Kill Him, Will Give My Land…”: Manipur BJP Spokesperson’s FIR Over Death Threats, Attack On House

Mr Haokip, the Thadou Community International (TCI) and the Thadou Students’ Association (TSA-GHQ), of which he is a key leader, have sought to draw attention to the tribe’s “inaccurate” reference by leaders and the media, and to spread awareness that “the Thadou tribe is distinct and any confusion with other tribes surmount to being racist, abusive, disrespectful, traumatising and it puts the Thadou tribe in poor light”.

“… There’s hope the perpetrators’ intentions and masterminds will be exposed, and justice will be served to all the victims of the horrible crime and injustice, including Michael Lamjathang, his family and Peniel villagers,” the TSA said in a statement on Friday, welcoming the decision of the Manipur government to hand over the investigation to the NIA.

Letter To Kuki National Organisation (KSO)

The TSA on September 15 wrote to the heads of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), seeking their cooperation in identifying suspects who attacked Mr Haokip’s house twice last month. TSA spokesperson Vicky Thadou in the letter said that Peniel village, where Mr Haokip’s senior citizen parents live in their ancestral house, falls within the operational area of KNO, and are dominated by KNA, KNFMC, KNF-S, KNF-Z, and KLA – the five constituents of the KNO.

“… We hold the KNO and the local civil organisations morally responsible for the attacks,” the TSA said in the letter addressed to the KNO president and vice presidents.

The Kuki National Front (Samuel), or KNF(S), in a statement refuted the TSA’s allegation and requested people to “stay away from this misinformation and blatant accusation.” “… The blatant accusation that the incident took place within the operational area of the organisation is nothing, but the act of tarnishing the image and reputation of KNF(S),” the KNF(S) said in a statement, referring to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement.

The TSA in the statement on Friday acknowledged the KNF(S)’s response and pointed out that only one of five armed groups under the KNO has responded.

“… The fact that other groups have neither condemned the repeated terror attacks nor clarified on the matter only strengthen the suspicion of their involvement in the attacks, which would clearly amount to gross violation of the ground rules of the Suspension of Operations agreement between the groups and the government,” the TSA said.

The KNO is one of the two umbrella organisations of 23 Kuki-Zomi-Hmar insurgent groups that have signed the controversial tripatriate SoO agreement with the state government and the Centre. The other is the United People’s Front (UPF). The KNO and the UPF represent these 23 Kuki-Zomi-Hmar insurgent groups.

Broadly, the SoO agreement says the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly. Every year, a joint monitoring group reviews the SoO agreement and decides whether to end or renew it. The agreement lapsed on February 29 this year – the same day the Manipur assembly unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to scrap the agreement. The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs did not attend the assembly session.

The Manipur government has alleged some Kuki insurgents who are part of the SoO agreement have been participating in the ethnic conflict, thus violating the ground rules.

READ | End Ceasefire With All Kuki-Zo Insurgent Groups: Manipur Assembly Unanimous Resolution

Leaders of the Kuki tribes have also accused the state government headed by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who is from the valley-dominant Meitei community, of looking the other way when insurgents of the Meitei group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), allegedly participated in the violence. The UNLF(P) last year signed a peace deal with the Centre and the state government, after which its personnel came overground.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

The Security Adviser to the Manipur government today for the first time publicly confirmed they have received an intelligence report that alerted about the entry of “900 Kuki militants” trained in jungle warfare and use of weaponised drones to Manipur from neighbouring Myanmar. The intelligence report cannot be taken lightly, Manipur Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh told reporters today.

The intelligence report was sent to all Senior Superintendents of Police in the districts along the India-Myanmar border in southern Manipur, top intelligence sources told NDTV, requesting anonymity. The report, sent on Thursday, mentioned that “900 Kuki militants, newly trained in use of drone-based bombs, projectles, missiles and jungle warfare have entered Manipur from Myanmar”, the sources said.

The “Kuki militants” are believed to be grouped in units of 30 members each and at present are scattered in the periphery, the intelligence sources told NDTV, adding they may launch multiple coordinated attacks on Meitei villages in the last week of September.

In the press conference today, Mr Singh said they believe the report to be “100 per cent correct”.

“Unless and until it is proved wrong, we believe that it is 100 per cent correct. Because any intelligence input you have to take 100 per cent correct and prepare for that. If it doesn’t come true, then there are two things. Either it didn’t happen at all, or because of your efforts it didn’t happen. You cannot take it lightly,” Mr Singh told reporters.

Ethnic armed groups in Myanmar’s Chin State and other states have been fighting the junta, and have taken large parts of the country which the junta earlier controlled. Some of the fighting has taken place close to the border with India, with instances of some junta troops fleeing into India after Chin State rebels overran them.

READ | Row Over Assam Rifles Ex Chief’s “Meitei Police, Kuki Police” Comment; Cops Say “Myopic Mindset”

The Manipur government has long maintained that the ethnic violence in the state was a direct result of a huge spike in the population of illegal immigrants – among other factors – in southern Manipur, which shares a border with Chin State and the Sagaing Region.

In January, on a question about attacks on police commandos in Manipur’s border trading town Moreh, the Security Adviser had denied the involvement of Myanmar-based militants. He had, however, admitted there was a possibility that Myanmar militants might have come, though there was no evidence then.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

No Value Of Agreements?

The involvement of overground insurgents from both communities in the Manipur clashes was confirmed recently by the police after a gunfight in Jiribam district, neighbouring Assam.

Three Kuki insurgents who were killed in the gunfight were members of the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), whose two factions are part of the two umbrella Kuki-Zo groups that have signed the controversial tripatriate Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement – a sort of ceasefire – with the state government and the Centre.

A member of the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), was also killed in the Jiribam gunfight. The UNLF is the oldest Meitei insurgent group, which later broke up into two factions; the Pambei faction signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November 2023.

READ | “Prosecute Manipur Chief Minister”: 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs To Probe Panel On ‘Audio Clip’ Leak Row

India-Myanmar Border Fencing

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said fencing work had been completed in 30 km of the porous India-Myanmar border in the Manipur section.

The Cabinet Committee on Security has, in principle, approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,643-km international border between India and Myanmar at an approximate cost of Rs 31,000 crore.

The India-Myanmar border passes through Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The Union Home Minister said India has scrapped the Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows people living close to the border to go 16 km into each other’s territory without any documents. Foreigners can enter from Myanmar using the standard method i.e. with visas, Mr Shah had said.

Imphal:

On the completion of the Modi 3.0 government today, the Centre has taken a significant step toward addressing the challenges faced by the people in Manipur. They have been enduring prolonged unrest for over 16 months.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a programme to provide essential commodities at affordable prices. The initiative involves extending the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) facilities to people in the violence-hit state.

This was seen as one of the methods the Centre used to resolve the Manipur crisis.

In Manipur’s Torbung, people queued up to buy essentials at a discounted price shop. This area is on the border of the Meitei-dominant valley area Bishnupur and Kuki-dominant hill district Churachandpur. The violence in May 2023 began in these parts.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) unit posted there to keep both the communities away from confrontation had a new task at hand on Wednesday – roll out the mobile canteens on wheel, a key decision by the Centre on completion of 100 days of Modi 3.0.

This facility enables the people to buy essentials at highly subsidised prices from canteens of central forces.

On MHA’s initiative, CRPF is glad to open its Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) from today at total 15 unit locations in Imphal, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur, Jiribam, Chudachandpur, Senapati and others districts for the people of Manipur to enable them to purchase commodities at… pic.twitter.com/f8F8DE9bge

— CRPF (@crpfindia) September 17, 2024

“We will organise this canteen on wheels in all the villages that are in our area of operation. The CRPF is in Manipur now and with the welfare of people as our aim, we are going to villages with daily use items,” Mani G Nair, a CRPF officer in Torbung, told NDTV.

John Vaiphei, a resident, said, “This is the first welcome step to build support for the local population, considering the hardships people in the sensitive zones have been facing. We hope they (mobile canteens) come frequently.”

The Border Security Force (BSF) in a post on X said it is proud to serve locals through three existing KPK bhandars and seven newly opened outlets.

Under MHA initiative to provide commodities at affordable prices to the people of Manipur from today, BSF is proud to serve the locals through 3 existing KPK Bhandars and 7 newly opened outlets.#JaiHind#IndiasFirstLineOfDefencepic.twitter.com/uUTohAZE9N

— BSF (@BSF_India) September 17, 2024

Introduced by the MHA in 2006, the KPKB system was designed to supply essential goods at concessional prices to serving and retired personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). In the backdrop of the turmoil in Manipur, the facility has been extended to benefit the local population, ensuring that essential goods are available at fair prices, despite the restrictions on travel and supplies caused by the unrest.

“The Centre and the state government have come together to start this process. The MHA issued orders to start 16 outlets, eight each in the valley and hill districts. These are in addition to the already running 21 KPKB outlets in the state. These outlets have started supplying goods to the local population,” Manipur Home Commissioner Ashok Kumar said.

The state government has also launched mobile sales units, providing essential items such as rice, potatoes, onions, pulses, cooking oil, and salt in 16 centres.

“Prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed, and many items are scarce. This new KPKB outlet ensures easy access to essential goods at lower prices than in the market. It is a highly commendable move,” a resident in Imphal East’s Lamlai, Sorokkaibam Inaocha Meitei, told NDTV.

People displaced by the ethnic violence from both communities have welcomed the Centre’s move, which appears set to help win trust for starting a larger peace-building process.

With BM Sunzu in Lamlai, and K Mangte in Kangvai.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Families living in a relief camp in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district want to return home, provided there is guarantee of their safety, a senior officer of the central paramilitary force CRPF told news agency ANI.

CRPF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Manish Kumar Sachar visited the camps in Kangpokpi district’s Thangkanphai village and Songpehjang, where over 100 families of the Kuki tribes have been staying since ethnic clashes began in May 2023.

“This is Saikul subdivision, a huge subdivision under Kangpokpi district. And this Songpehjang relief camp, where over 100 families are living. They are living peacefully. You can see children playing. But our objective and purpose is to ensure they return home as soon as possible,” Mr Sachar told ANI.

“Their rehabilitation should be done. They should be given help to restart their lives. Many measures are being taken for them. For example, we are working to identify their agricultural fields and taking them to work on them, so that they can start living a normal life again,” said the DIG of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), whose battalions have taken over security duties in some areas in the Kuki-dominant hill districts Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, vacated by the Assam Rifles (AR). The two AR battalions have been sent to Jammu and Kashmir.

“You can see around. They are all peaceful. The children are playing. They need to go to schools, live normal lives,” Mr Sachar said, pointing at the relief camp.

To a question about demands raised by the families living in the camps, Mr Sachar said, “They have no demand. They only want to return to normal, lead normal lives, without any attacks on them or threats.”

READ | Row Over Assam Rifles Ex Chief’s “Meitei Police, Kuki Police” Comment; Cops Say “Myopic Mindset”

Over 220 people were killed in the ethnic clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur.

While members of the Kuki tribes have left the state capital Imphal and other valley areas, Meiteis who had been living in the hill areas where the Kukis are dominant have come to the valley. Nearly 50,000 internally displaced people from both communities are living in relief camps.

Tension persists, however, in the foothills between the Kuki-dominant hill districts and the valley areas as both sides accuse each other of launching attacks.

The Kuki tribes want a separate administration to be carved out of Manipur, while the Meiteis do not want any division of territory, or harm to “territorial integrity”.

“IDPs wishing to return home doesn’t mean they don’t have political demands. Security officials must stick to their job, not meddle in politics,” Manipur BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip said in a post on X, referring to internally displaced people (IDPs).

The MLA’s “not meddle in politics” swipe at the CRPF top officer comes days after Lieutenant General PC Nair (retired), the former Director General of the Assam Rifles, in a nearly 50-minute interview to News9 said the Manipur Police are divided on ethnic lines – between Meiteis and Kukis, and that “there is no Manipur Police; it is ‘Meitei Police’. It is ‘Kuki Police’.”

The Kuki tribes had protested against the Centre’s move to shift the two Assam Rifles battalions to Jammu and Kashmir.

READ | Manipur BJP MLA From Kuki Tribes Condemns Call To Ban ITLF, Asks Amit Shah To Probe Audio Tapes

Mr Haokip is one of the 10 Kuki MLAs who have been speaking in the same chorus as the two umbrella groups that represent 25-odd Kuki-Zo insurgent factions, and separate civil society organisations. All of them have been demanding separation from Manipur.

Social media users from the Meitei community, reacting to Mr Haokip’s post on the CRPF DIG’s comment, alleged only those who want to keep the pot boiling have been objecting to attempts to return to a state of normalcy, and that it is the politicians who have political demands, not the displaced people who have been living together in peace for decades.

“Thousands of people from both communities want to return home under strict security and understanding of no more violence, for a start. I have been going from one camp to another, from Kuki to Meitei camps, if I may say that. Anyone who visits the camps will hear the same thing, that people want to go home,” a senior officer who is looking after rehabilitation and relief matters near Bishnupur district’s Moirang town told NDTV on phone, requesting anonymity.

“Ensuring safe return and rebuilding lives are not easy tasks, given the sharp ethnic divide, but it is possible with sincere efforts. Some elements know the return of peace means the failure of achieving their goal,” the officer said.

Among a range of complex issues, the immediate cause that sparked the long chain of violence is often cited as the general category Meiteis’ demand to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category.

The Kukis, who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram, want the separate administration citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

With inputs from ANI

Imphal:

The Indian Army and the Manipur Police in a joint operation with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force recovered significant quantities of arms, ammunition and “war-like stores” in Churachandpur district, the army’s Spear Corps said in a statement today.

“The Indian Army, in a joint operation along with Manipur Police, CRPF, and BSF, had launched an extensive 48-hour operation, giving a decisive blow to warring groups in Manipur. These joint efforts resulted in the recovery of significant quantities of arms, ammunition, and other war-like stores in the Churachandpur district,” the army said in the statement.

Acting on specific information, in Churachandpur’s Maulsang area, the army along with the police and the CRPF recovered one 7.62mm AK series assault rifle with a magazine, three medium-sized crude mortars locally known as ‘pumpi’, and other war-like stores, the army said.

The army in coordination with the police and the BSF also recovered a modified M-16 assault rifle, one 7.5-feet country-made rocket, one large country-made mortar and ammunition in a thickly forested area south-west of Shejang in Kangpokpi district, the army said in the statement.

The recovered weapons have been handed over to the police for further investigation and disposal, the army said.

Troops of #IndianArmy, along with #BSF, #CRPF and @manipur_police carried out Intelligence based joint operations in general areas of Maulsang and Shejang in Churachandpur district in the last 48 hours and recovered one 7.62mm AK Series assault rifle, one modified M-16 rifle, one… pic.twitter.com/cpCmhBrgDj

— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) September 12, 2024

The operation marks a significant step in neutralising the threat posed by these inimical groups, reaffirming the commitment of the security forces towards peace in the region, the army said.

READ | Row Over Assam Rifles Ex Chief’s “Meitei Police, Kuki Police” Comment; Cops Say “Myopic Mindset”

Violence had escalated again in Manipur on September 1, following what the police said was a weaponized drone attack in Imphal West’s Koutruk. The police said they are considering handing over the case to the National Investigation Agency. The police are also investigating a “rocket attack” on Manipur’s lakeside town Moirang.

The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO), admitting the attack on Moirang, in a statement on Thursday said, “… The incident involved a retaliatory action by Kuki-Zo village volunteers, who used an indigenously made ‘Pumpi’, a type of cannon, rather than a rocket or a missile.”

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

The Manipur Police have strongly reacted to what they called “immature” comments by the former Assam Rifles chief, who indicated the state force could be partisan amid the ethnic tension between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes, who are dominant in southern Manipur’s hill districts and some other areas.

Senior officers of the Manipur Police in a press conference on Tuesday said the comments on the police by the former Assam Rifles (AR) chief also showed “a myopic mindset”.

The Manipur Police and the AR have exchanged indirect barbs, and their personnel have had heated exchanges over matters such as road blockades since ethnic clashes began in May 2023, but never in the manner of a formal press conference or a news interview.

Lieutenant General PC Nair (retired), the former Director General of the AR, in a nearly 50-minute interview to News9 on Monday touched on a wide range of issues endemic in the state bordering Myanmar. One of the points he highlighted was the difficulty in operating at a place where he claimed the police, too, were sharply divided on ethnic lines.

While Lt General Nair acknowledged that the AR had a lot of successes during anti-insurgency operations due to the police’s support, he said the police are this time divided on ethnic lines – between Meiteis and Kukis.

“… Let me be very honest in saying that there is no Manipur Police. It is ‘Meitei Police’. It is ‘Kuki Police’. That’s how they went into their respective areas and that is how they have been since then,” Lt General Nair told News9. “If they didn’t go, you don’t know what would have happened to their families. So it was in their own interest. I wouldn’t blame them. The situation was so volatile that they had no option, but to go back to their areas where they belonged,” he said.

The former AR chief added the divide is “more or less complete” in the police, particularly the constabulary, which was “one of the problems.”

“See, in any internal security situation, if you don’t have the local police by your side, it’s very difficult. You try and think of such a situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Surely, the successes the army and the Rashtriya Rifles have been getting are largely due to having the police by their side, which was not the case here [in Manipur],” Lt General Nair said.

READ | “Agenda-Driven Narratives”: Top Assam Rifles Officer On “Bias” Allegations In Manipur Ops

Responding to Lt General Nair, the Inspector General of Police (Operations) IK Muivah said the state force “strongly refutes” several points, particularly the ‘Meitei Police’ reference, made by the former AR chief.

“Manipur Police comprises people from all communities, whether from the mainland, Nagas, Kukis, Meiteis. So there is no such thing as the statement which he made. It is an immature statement, which shows a myopic mindset. We want to refute that,” Mr Muivah told reporters in the state capital Imphal.

“We don’t take such comments lightly. This is why we called this press conference in the first place. We are disappointed with him over his biased, immature comments. They are not true. Saying ‘Meitei Police’, ‘Kuki Police’ is a very harmful, false statement. We completely refute this immature and false statement,” Mr Muivah said.

Inspector General of Police (Administration) K Jayanta Singh said Lt General Nair’s comment is not likely the opinion of the Assam Rifles as a whole. “The immature comment coming from an experienced, retired officer seems to be his opinion. It doesn’t look like the official view of the Assam Rifles,” Mr Singh told reporters.

On the huge controversy over attacks by weaponized drones, Lt General Nair denied any drone dropped bombs in Manipur, though both Kuki and Meitei groups use drones for reconnaissance. He also rubbished the claim that rockets have been fired in Manipur. A senior citizen from the Meitei community was killed in what the police and residents said was a “rocket attack” on the lakeside town Moirang, 45 km from Imphal. A shrapnel had pierced through his head, the police said.

Mr Keishing, citing evidence which the police have collected from the areas where they claimed drone bombings have happened, refuted the former AR chief’s statement that no drone dropped bombs. The Manipur Police officer said they have been collecting evidence, and have picked up drones that were downed, debris and bomb residue.

“We have also collected other evidence for the forensics teams. We will most likely hand over this very important case to the National Investigation Agency so that it can be probed at the highest level,” Mr Keishing said, referring to the country’s top anti-terror investigator NIA.

WATCH | Video: Standoff Between Armoured Vehicle And Suspected Insurgents In Manipur’s Moreh

Lt General Nair, explaining the situation in neighbouring Myanmar where anti-junta insurgents have been using swarm drones to bomb military camps, pointed out the projectile that hit Moirang can only be a homemade weapon known as ‘pumpi gun’.

“Again, it’s not a rocket or a missile. It is a very crude kind of a weapon, called pumpi. It is just a barrel in which they put some ammunition and it is fired. But do you know most of the times the ammunition gets blasted in the barrel itself… The media plays it up as if it’s something very alarming… they’re not rockets, they’re not designed. Narratives are being built by many people,” Lt General Nair said.

The AR is under the administrative control of the Home Ministry and operational control of the army. It guards the 1,600-km-long Indo-Myanmar border, of which nearly 400 km is in Manipur, where it also functions as the primary counter-insurgency force making its task a dual-role one. There are some Border Security Force (BSF) battalions in Manipur, but they are not specifically tasked with guarding the Indo-Myanmar border.

Since May 2023, when ethnic clashes began in Manipur, the Assam Rifles have been criticised by both the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes for allegedly being biased, Lt General Nair said, adding this clearly shows the force has been neutral.

The army had invited a team of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) to Manipur to analyse the local media’s coverage of the Manipur crisis, which was seen as partisan and biased towards the Meiteis. The editors’ body led by journalist Seema Mustafa had revealed this to the Supreme Court in September last year, after two Manipur residents filed police cases against the EGI for allegedly doing a hit job on the Meitei community, largely using information provided by groups of the Kuki tribes. The Supreme Court later gave relief to the EGI.

READ | Two Assam Rifles Battalions From Manipur To Be Deployed In Jammu And Kashmir

Another controversy erupted when the investigative news website The Reporters Collective (TRC) shared with the public its assessment of what it claimed was a PowerPoint presentation by AR officers in Manipur. The report, published in Al Jazeera on April 15, put a part of the blame for the Manipur crisis on Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s “political authoritarianism and ambition”. The AR later told Al Jazeera the content of the report was not the official viewpoint of the force, and that no such presentation had been made by the AR.

The All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU), a registered body formed in 1974, in a statement today refuted Lt General Nair’s comments that the local media was partisan. “When speaking to national media, we wish the [Lt] General also spoke to locals for their inputs including the media and not rely only on one side,” it said.

The AMWJU also said the former AR chief’s statement that weaponized drones were not used were “not borne by facts”. “… There are many eyewitnesses who saw the release of the bombs by drones, including a journalist of Impact TV who was also injured by shrapnel on his hand and foot in Koutruk,” the AMJU said, referring to the incident on September 8.

READ | Manipur Oil Leak Accident Or Sabotage? Some Unanswered Questions

Two battalions of the Assam Rifles have been shifted out of Manipur for deployment in Jammu and Kashmir. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been moved to the areas where these two battalions had guarded, including the Kuki-dominant Churachandpur. The Kuki tribes have fiercely protested against the move, and highlighted their preference for the AR, amid a huge trust-deficit with the government led by Biren Singh, who belongs to the Meitei community.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

The Manipur Police said they have identified the bodies of five people found in Jiribam district following a fierce gunfight with “suspected Kuki insurgents” on Friday.

Three of the bodies have now been confirmed as Kuki insurgents from Churachandpur district; the fourth has been identified as a Kuki volunteer from Jiribam; the fifth has been identified as a member of the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), the police said in a statement on Sunday.

The three Kuki insurgents were members of the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), the police said, adding they suspect the three Kuki insurgents may have come from the hill district Churachandpur in southern Manipur, 230 km from Jiribam.

“… It seems they had traversed a long distance to Jiribam to execute these subversive activities,” the police said.

The UNLF is the oldest Meitei insurgent group, which later broke up into two factions; the Pambei faction signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November 2023.

The KLA has two factions, one each with the two umbrella Kuki-Zo groups that have signed the controversial tripatriate Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the state government and the Centre. Some 24-odd Kuki-Zo insurgent groups come under the two umbrella organisations called the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF). Sources said the leaders of the KLA factions are from the Khongsai clan.

The police said the three Kuki insurgents and the volunteer “initiated the attack” in Jiribam, killing a 63-year-old man from the Meitei community identified as Yurembam Kulendra Singha. His body was found on a bed, indicating he was shot while sleeping, his family told reporters on Saturday.

A police team that rushed to the site of the attack was fired at; the team retaliated and took control of the situation, the police said.

“A total of five bodies were found at the firing incident site…” the police said in the statement posted on X.

According to the police, the three KLA insurgents were Seiminlen Khongsai, Haogoulen Doungel, and Nehboithang Haokip. The volunteer who was killed was Lhunkhohao Haokip.

The UNLF(P) member was Baspatimayum Lakhi Kumar Sharma. He was guarding a village as a volunteer when he came under attack, his wife, holding her six-month-old baby, told local media.

In c/w the case of 06.09.2024, suspected Kuki militants had attacked Nungchappi village under Jiribam District resulting in death of 01 (one) senior citizen civilian identified as Yurembam Kulendra Singha (63) yrs S/O. (L) Y. Ramohon Singha of Rangar Part-I, Cachar, Assam, who…

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) September 8, 2024

Jiribam is where Meitei and Hmar leaders met for peace talks last month, along with security forces commanders. They had given a joint statement agreeing to work for peace. Churachandpur-based Kuki groups, however, had objected to the peace talks, alleging the peace talk parties did not represent their interests and met only at Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s bidding.

The Hmar Inpui later declared it would not recognise the peace initiative and warned the individuals who participated in the meeting to “stop their blind and selfish efforts”. The Hmar Inpui had said these leaders appeared to be bowing to the “whims and fancies of a divisive and communal government under the leadership of Biren Singh…”

After violence erupted in Jiribam in June, sources had told NDTV the state government had written three times in December 2023 and January this year to the Director General of Police (DGP) asking to step up security and respond to any threat in the district bordering Assam.

“It has been reported that about 200 armed Kuki-Zo militants have moved from Churachandpur and reached Phaitol village, Old and New Kaiphundai area of Tamenglong district bordering Jiribam district,” the state government wrote to the DGP on January 15.

Sources had said though the Jiribam attacks in June came nearly six months after the government sent the first letter, the insurgents would have been waiting for the “right time” to strike.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

New Delhi:

Security forces today gave a demonstration of an anti-drone system at work in violence-hit Manipur, days after a man was killed in weaponised drone attacks launched by suspected Kuki insurgents from the hills near the valley district Imphal West.

Sunday’s attacks, which the Manipur Police said were carried out by suspected Kuki insurgents, were the first recorded use of weaponised drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.

In a post on X, the Manipur Police said the Assam Rifles has deployed a few anti-drone systems in the fringe areas “to repel any rogue drones”.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), too, has tested an anti-drone system. The central force will bring more such systems soon, the police said.

The state police has also started the process of acquiring anti-drone systems to tackle aerial threats.

“AR [Assam Rifles] has deployed a few anti-drone systems in the state at fringe areas to repel any rogue drones. CRPF has also tested one anti-drone system and given it to the force deployed in the state. Some more anti-drone guns are being brought to the state by CRPF shortly,” the police said.

“The state police has also started the process for procurement of an anti-drone system to enhance its security measures and tackle threats from drones effectively,” the police said.

AR has deployed a few anti-drone systems in the State at fringe areas to repel any rogue drones. CRPF has also tested one anti-drone system and given it to the force deployed in the State. Some more anti-drone guns are being brought to the State by CRPF shortly.
The State Police… pic.twitter.com/UuWe1F5GpB

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) September 7, 2024

The Manipur Chief Minister’s office had on two occasions raised concerns over the likelihood of weaponised drone attacks in the state, two letters sent by the Chief Minister’s secretaries to the police chief and security agencies in the last seven months show.

The Manipur Police chief Rajiv Singh had visited Imphal West district’s Kadangband and Koutruk on Sunday and Monday. He has been overseeing large-scale combing operations in the foothills. He spoke with villagers and assured them of security.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills near the Meitei-dominated Imphal West area. The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal/New Delhi:

An MLA of the ruling BJP in ethnic violence-hit Manipur has called for banning a Kuki group that has been spearheading the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur. The MLA, Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, appealed to the Home Ministry to ban the Kuki group Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) alleging the group has been taking financial aid to buy lethal drones, bombs and ammunition.

The MLA, who belongs to the valley-dominant Meitei community, in a post on X uploaded purported photos of a person with an identity card under the name ‘Haopu Vaiphei’ and the words ‘ITLF Drone Squad’.

“… Who is this person with ITLF ID and who all are training these people to attack innocent civilians?” Imo Singh said.

He also posted a purported ITLF-issued receipt that claimed the Bnei Menashe community sent Rs 3.9 lakh “financial assistance to the ITLF defence department”. The Bnei Menashe refers to some Kuki and Mizo people who claim descent from one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel.

Imo Singh made the allegations after two civilians were killed and nine were injured in firing and drone attacks by suspected Kuki insurgents in Manipur on Sunday.

It was the first recorded use of drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.

On Monday, another drone dropped two bombs in Imphal West district’s Senjam Chirang, leaving three injured, the police said. The bombs tore through the roof of a house, visuals taken by the police show.

“As a legislator of the state of Manipur, I seek for the organisation namely ITLF to be declared as a banned organisation. If these pictures are all true, if they are taking financial assistance to procure lethal drones, other arms and ammunition including bombs to attack innocent people, they have to be banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” Imo Singh said.

“As I said earlier, it’s not just an ethnic conflict; it is an act of terror, an act of waging war against our country, the state of Manipur, its people, who are the citizens of our country,” he added.

As a Legislator of the State of Manipur, I seek for the organisation namely ITLF to be declared as a banned organisation. If these pictures are all true, if they are taking financial assistance to procure lethal drones, other arms and ammunition including bombs to attack innocent… pic.twitter.com/qD86u7U26O

— Rajkumar Imo Singh (@imosingh) September 3, 2024

NDTV could not independently verify the visuals posted by Imo Singh.

No Credible Evidence: Kuki Groups

The ITLF and other key Kuki groups in separate statements called the allegations of Kuki-Zo tribes using weaponised drones to attack the Meiteis totally unfounded. The Kuki groups said the entire incident was meant to divert attention from the audio tape leak controversy linked to the Chief Minister.

In the purported audio tapes, which have been submitted to a probe panel under the Home Ministry, the Chief Minister allegedly admitted he started the Manipur ethnic conflict. Those who gave the tapes to the probe panel reportedly gave affidavits stating the material was genuine, and sought protection.

The Biren Singh government has called the audio tapes “doctored”, and meant to derail peace talks.

“Drones are readily available in the market; obtaining them does not require involvement from outside the country. Licypriya Kangujam, a Meitei climate activist, publicly stated on social media that she has procured drones equipped with bomb-dropping capabilities from the US to bomb the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas…” the ITLF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) said the state Home Department’s statement on Sunday saying the drone attacks were launched “reportedly by Kuki militants” were totally unfounded, lacking any credible evidence.

“It is beyond doubt that the irresponsible statement from the Home Department was intended to create confusion among the masses and the media, and to create a misleading narrative that distorts the facts and unfairly maligns the Kuki community,” the KIM said in a statement.

The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) also condemned what they called false allegations by the Biren Singh government and its police on the drone attacks. The KSO alleged Meiteis have been using drones to attack the Kuki tribes since December 2023. “… But nobody pays heed until an allegation of the same was levied by Meiteis in the recent incident…” the KSO said.

Police Chief Visits Affected Areas

The Manipur Director General of Police Rajiv Singh on Tuesday visited the villages in Imphal West district where the drone attacks were reported. The police chief is overseeing large-scale combing operations in the foothills. He spoke with villagers and assured them of security.

“This (drone attack) is a new thing. We are in touch with experts, including the National Security Guards (NSG). We have formed a multi-agency committee to make a plan on countering the drone threat. The experts are coming to Manipur,” the DGP said.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills near the Meitei-dominated valley district Imphal West. The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal/New Delhi:

A woman was killed, and her 12-year-old daughter was injured in firing by suspected insurgents in Manipur today, sources said. Two policemen were also injured; both are out of danger, sources said. One of the policemen was hit in the leg by a shrapnel from a bomb dropped by a drone, police sources said, adding at least two weaponised drones were seen. Other security forces are yet to confirm the sighting of the “weaponised drones”.

The firing started from Nakhujang village in Kangpokpi towards Kadangband in Imphal West at 2.35 pm, sources said. 

Residents in Kadangband said at least one drone dropped a “bomb” on a house in the area. They have shared purported visuals of the drone dropping a bomb, while people ran for cover. Sources in the security forces, however, said they are yet to look into this claim.

Some people guarding their houses in Kadangband retaliated, sources said.

The woman, identified as Ngangbam Surbala, 31, was brought dead at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in the state capital Imphal, 45 km from Kangpokpi.

Kangpokpi is a Kuki-dominated area, while Imphal West is in the Meitei-dominated valley. The Kuki tribes and the Meitei community have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues.

While members of the Meitei community claimed “Kuki terrorists” killed the woman, social media users from the Kuki tribes alleged the Meiteis began firing at Kuki villages in Kangpokpi first.

Both sides have shared purported visuals of the firing from different angles. What’s a first – if confirmed by the security forces – would be the use of the weaponised drones in Manipur.

The drones may have been used as spotters and to direct fire, while the crude artillery “pumpi guns” fired the shells which landed right near where the drones were flying, sources said, adding this may have given an impression that the bombs were dropped by the drones.