Three people collecting firewood in a forest were killed by armed militants on Monday in Manipur’s Imphal East district, officials aware of the matter said, the latest round of violence in the bruised state where clashes have claimed at least 306 lives since 2023.
Around 9am, militants opened fire on 16 firewood collectors – all belonging to the Meitei community – at Khongban Sunurok village in Imphal East district. Three others are injured.
The killings triggered protests by Meitei groups who placed two bodies outside the chief minister’s residence in Imphal, people aware of the matter said. It was not immediately known if chief minister Y Khemchand Singh was at his residence at the time.
Police said the deceased were identified as Lairenlakpam Inaobi, 57, Arubam Ronin, 35, – both from Nongshum village – and Keshtrimayum Sushil, 32, from Uyumpok village.
Both villages are in the Meitei-dominated Imphal East district bordering the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district. The families of the victims claimed that the attackers belonged to Kuki community but there was no official confirmation.
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This is the first incident of conflict between Meiteis and Kukis after July 13, when armed Kuki groups attacked Meitei residents in Bishnupur’s Torbung Bangla. There were no deaths in the incident. In the last few months, at least 50 people have died in the northeastern state but a majority of them were inflicted by Naga-Kuki clashes.
Chief minister Y Khemchand Singh chaired a security meeting on Monday. “I strongly condemned the killing of innocent civilians by armed miscreants at Nongshum, Imphal East, today. The meeting reviewed the overall security situation of the state... I have directed the officials to strengthen security measures in vulnerable areas of the state,” he posted on X.
The injured – N Suraj, 19, Meisnam Somendro, 53, and K Bosan, 45 – were undergoing treatment. Officials said Inaobi and Ronin died on the spot and Sushil succumbed to his injuries at the hospital premises in Imphal. “All the injured received adequate treatment and are in stable condition,” said a hospital official.
“Around 16 villagers went to Khongban Sunurok village to collect firewood. Some armed miscreants with red ribbons on the barrel of sophisticated rifles, who had taken position behind a pile of cut firewood, opened fire towards them,” said Ngangom Darashing Meitei, father of Suraj.
“We have been collecting firewood frequently as there was no violence in the past six months in the area but now, the government needs to take stringent action,” said Darashing Meitei.
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A survivor of the ambush – who identified himself as Thokchom Kiranjit – said, “Today we went to collect firewood. When we reached the spot we saw some unidentified armed miscreants hiding behind a pile of firewood… one of us shouted at them, asking who they were. Instantly they opened fire from a very close range around 10-15 metres. We ran back to safety for our lives.”
As news of the killing spread, an irate Meitei mob breached security outside the chief minister’s residence and parked a truck carrying the bodies of Inaobi and Ronin in front of the main gate of the house in Babupara, Imphal. Security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Police said bodies were recovered and deposited at Regional Institute of Medical Science (RIMS), Imphal West.
CM Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited the injured at the hospital but refused to speak to the media. Local Meitei bodies announced a total shutdown till Wednesday along the stretch of NH-202 (Imphal-Nagaland via Ukhrul) from Lamlong bazar to Sagolmang, a distance of around 35 km. Markets were shut down in Imphal town.
Ningthoukhongjam Sanatomba, general secretary of Iramam Kanba Apunba Lup (IKAL), a Meitei organisation, announced a total shutdown till Wednesday midnight.
Hundreds of protestors continue to block NH-202 (Imphal-Nagaland via Ukhrul) from Lamlong bazar to Sagolmang.
The local Congress legislator – Th Lokeshwar – said the villagers went to collect firewood after getting assurances from the Assam Rifles. “Those culprits could be easily nabbed if the government conducts a mass operation in the area,” he added.
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Manipur has been reeling under violence since May 2023, when ethnic clashes first broke out between the dominant Meitei and tribal Kuki communities. Since then, almost every community has been engulfed by the spiralling violence that led to a complete breakdown of law and order, the creation of ethnic enclaves, deaths of nearly 306 people. displacement of 66,000 people, and a virtual bifurcation of the state. The Naga community was initially not a part of the strife but was pulled into the violence on May 13, when – in a twin ambush carried out at Noney district and Kangpokpi district – four civilians, including three church leaders, were killed by unknown assailants.
On the same day, 48 civilians belonging to both Kuki and Naga communities were taken hostage by people from either groups. Two days later, 14 people from each community were set free. But 14 Kukis and six Nagas remained captured. After 27 days of protest and appeals for unconditional release of both the hostages, UNC, along with other Naga civil bodies, released 14 Kuki civilians on June 9. But on June 10, mutilated bodies of six Naga hostages were recovered, ratcheting up tensions.
The fresh killings suggest a return of hostilities between Meiteis and Kukis, at a time when the Kuku-Naga faultline is roiling the state.