Manipur violence intensified after three Meitei villagers were fatally shot and three others wounded in an ambush near the Imphal East-Kangpokpi border on Monday, prompting protesters to carry two bodies to a sit-in outside Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s official residence in Imphal.
According to a report by Times of India – Imphal, the victims were part of a group of 14 people who had entered a forest near Nongshum and Khongbal Tangkhul villages at about 9.40am to collect firewood when the firing began. Arubam Ronil, 35, Lairenlakpam Inaobi, 51, and Kshetrimayum Sushil, 32, all residents of Nongshum, were killed.
The attack was attributed in the report to suspected militants. It has revived tensions in Manipur’s valley districts over an alleged breach of the tripartite Suspension of Operations agreement by an armed Kuki outfit. The report did not establish responsibility for the attack independently.
Protesters took the bodies of two victims to a sit-in outside the chief minister’s official residence and remained there until security personnel used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Police subsequently moved the bodies to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal.
The chief minister convened an evening security meeting after the incident and directed the administration to strengthen deployment in areas identified as vulnerable. The immediate administrative response places pressure on the state government to secure forest-edge settlements and movement routes where civilian activity is taking place amid continuing armed tensions.
The killings were reported as the first involving members of the state’s majority Meitei community since January 21, when a Meitei man, Mayanglambam Rishikanta Singh, was allegedly shot dead in Churachandpur by suspected Kuki assailants. The report said that around 50 people had been killed on either side in tit-for-tat attacks over the previous eight months, involving tensions between Kuki-Zo militant groups, NSCN-IM and other Naga outfits in the hill districts.
The latest incident followed further violence in the state. Late on Sunday, a Meitei resident, Laishram Rakesh, 26, died after being hit by a stray bullet during a clash at a music event at CYSA playground in Khangabok, Thoubal district. Several others were injured. In a separate incident near Singjamei police station in Imphal, three Central Reserve Police Force personnel were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast at Kakwa Lamdaibung Lampak.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity demanded that the state and Union governments revoke the Suspension of Operations agreement with Kuki-Zo militant groups. The demand came as the administration reviewed security deployment in vulnerable areas, while the deaths and injuries continued to place civilian movement, local events and access to forest resources under heightened risk.
The state government’s next steps are the strengthened deployment ordered by the chief minister and the continuing security review following the attacks. Police moved the recovered bodies to Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, while authorities were expected to assess the affected locations and ongoing security arrangements.
