Three militants arrested in Manipur during search ops across hill and valley districts

IMPHAL: Security forces have arrested three militants, belonging to two proscribed outfits in Manipur, police said on Saturday.
All the arrests were made on Friday in Bishnupur, Kakching and Imphal West districts, a senior officer said.
One active cadre of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (Peoples' War Group) was apprehended from the Wangoo Samushang area in Bishnupur for allegedly being involved in extortion activities, he said.
The militant demanded money from schools, colleges, shopkeepers and elected members in Kumbi area, the officer said.
Another member of the outfit was also arrested from Elangkhanpokpi Mayai Leikai area in Kakching district, the police said.
A cadre of the proscribed UPPK was apprehended from Khumbong Bazar in Imphal West district.
Security forces continued search operations and area domination exercises in the fringe and vulnerable areas in the hill and valley districts.
During a search operation in Kotzim village in Kangpokpi district, three firearms, eight mortars and other articles were recovered, the police said.
Four improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were also recovered from Yangoubung village in Tengnoupal district on Thursday.
Security forces have been conducting search operations in Manipur since ethnic violence broke out two years ago.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in the ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
The Centre had on February 13 imposed the President's rule in Manipur after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.
The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Print

7 hours ago

• The Print

Kuki woman killed in ‘crossfire' in Manipur chose to stay back even at peak of conflict, says niece

A farmer and wife of the village chief Khaikhogin Haokip, she was found dead in a forested area approximately 500 metres from the village, and about 50 metres from the road, a senior district police officer told ThePrint. On Thursday, Haokip was shot in 'crossfire' between security forces and 'unknown armed miscreants'. The incident took place in Langchingmanbi village, near the buffer zone dividing areas dominated by the Kuki-Zo community from areas dominated by Meiteis. New Delhi: Having witnessed extreme violence through 2023 and 2024, Hoikholhing Haokip finally felt safe in her village in Churachandpur, after President's Rule was imposed in strife-torn Manipur in February this year. 'Even when the conflict was at its peak in 2023, and most villagers had fled since the village was on the frontline, she was adamant about staying,' recalled her niece Gracie, as she mourned her death. 'My uncle always told us—our forefathers gave us this land, and even if we die, we will die in our own house.' The incident has fuelled a fresh wave of tensions in the region. According to police, Haokip was killed in crossfire amid a search operation after a Meitei man in a village in Bishnupur district was injured earlier that day, when some 'unidentified assailants' opened fire. Ningthoujam Biren Singh, a cultivator from Phubala Awang Maning Leikai, was shot in the left arm around 3 pm while working in his paddy field, Manipur Police posted on X. He was taken to the district hospital, and later referred to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal, about 30 km away. His condition is reported to be stable. 'In response, the security forces launched a search operation in and around Langchingmanbi, Heichanglok, and the western areas of Phubala village. During the course of the operation, security forces came under fire from unknown armed miscreants and the forces retaliated accordingly,' Manipur Police wrote on X. 'During the crossfire, a woman from Langchingmanbi village was found dead with a bullet injury.' Incident Report: Shooting at Phubala and Subsequent Exchange of Fire Today, at approximately 3:00 PM, one Ningthoujam Biren Singh, a cultivator from Phubala Awang Maning Leikai, was shot in his left arm by an unknown armed miscreant while working in his paddy field at Phubala… — Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 19, 2025 Local police arranged to transport the body to Churachandpur District Hospital for necessary legal formalities. According to a document shared by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (JKLI) battalion admitted to its role in the act that led to the death of Haokip. Following this admission, the JKLI agreed to resolve the matter under customary law and offered Rs 11 lakh as compensation to her family. Gracie, her niece, confirmed that the arrangement has been made. After Haokip's death, ITLF—comprising tribal organisations like Kuki Inpi, Paite Tribe Council, Simte Tribe Council, Vaiphei People's Council, Mizo People's Convention, and others—submitted a memorandum to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla Friday, urging immediate action over the killing. It said that the incident was a direct result of the violation of the buffer zone demarcated between Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities. It stressed the urgent need to uphold the sanctity of these zones until a mutually agreed-upon Memorandum of Understanding or a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is in place. 'We urge the government to take firm and proactive measures to prevent future breaches and to ensure that such loss of innocent lives does not recur,' the memorandum read. According to the senior district police officer quoted above, the incident did not occur inside the designated buffer zone, but around four-five km away. The area is close to both Langchingmanbi, a Kuki-dominated village, and Phubala, which has a Meitei majority. 'Even then, the distance between the buffer zone and the place where the incident took place is more than a kilometre,' the officer clarified. The officer added that there had been a longstanding dispute over farming in the area. The assailants were believed to have come from deeper in the hills. 'They are not locals and do not appear to be connected to the communities farming in the immediate vicinity.' A video clip of a man, who was with the Meitei man shot in the paddy field, being heavily circulated, shows him describing the incident. 'They came down, crossed the high canal, and opened fire. The firing happened so close we could see their faces,' he can be heard saying. 'I had to roll over and lie flat. If I had been standing, I wouldn't be alive.' The Kuki civil society organisations then called for the indefinite shutdown in hill areas in protest. 'Mrs Hoikholhing fell victim to the ongoing campaign of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing directed against the Kuki minority. Her assassination is a chilling reminder of the deliberate and relentless violence that has engulfed our people, abetted by the inaction and at times, complicity of the state apparatus,' read the joint press release by the organisations. The shutdown ended Saturday. The 'shutdown' which was imposed earlier in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts passed off without any untoward incidents and normalcy has been restored in the districts. — Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 21, 2025 Five days ago, there was a similar flare-up in the Pukhao Leitanpokpi area of Manipur's Imphal East district, following a clash between members of the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities over an alleged farmland dispute. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: 'Manipur shows double-engine sarkar has failed. Kuki-Meitei don't trust govt' says GK Pillai

NDTV

7 hours ago

• NDTV

"Army Not Involved": Defence Ministry Flags Misinformation In Manipur Reports Over Churachandpur Shutdown

Imphal/New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has strongly criticised the local media in Manipur for carrying "misinformation" that the army was involved in an "agreement" which led to a Kuki group agreeing to call off an indefinite shutdown in Churachandpur district. The Kuki group Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) had called the indefinite shutdown over the death of a woman after a gunfight between, according to the police, security forces and "unknown armed miscreants" in Langchingmanbi village on June 19. The security forces began a search operation after a farmer from the Meitei community was shot at by "an unknown armed miscreant" while working in a paddy field near the foothills in Bishnupur district's Phubala, the police had said. The security forces came under fire from "unknown armed miscreants" while they were combing through Langchingmanbi, Heichanglok, and the western areas of Phubala village, and the forces retaliated. "During the crossfire, one woman from Langchingmanbi village was found dead with a bullet injury. She was later identified as Hoikholhing, wife of the village chief of Langchingmanbi," the police said in a statement on June 19. Incident Report: Shooting at Phubala and Subsequent Exchange of Fire Today, at approximately 3:00 PM, one Ningthoujam Biren Singh, a cultivator from Phubala Awang Maning Leikai, was shot in his left arm by an unknown armed miscreant while working in his paddy field at Phubala... — Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 19, 2025 In protest over the death of the woman, the ITLF called the indefinite shutdown in Kuki-dominant Churachandpur district. Churachandpur town (file) ITLF Calls Of Indefinite Shutdown In Churachandpur: Report The ITLF on Saturday announced it called off the indefinite shutdown, and the reason for it was that "an amicable solution" with the district administration has been reached under the "tribal customary law", news agency PTI reported. "This is inform to the general public that an amicable solution has reached between the ITLF and district administration, Churachandpur, in connection with the loss of our beloved mother (late) Hoikholhing Haokip, chief of Langchingmanbi village, at ITLF office, Tuibong according to tribal customary law. Henceforth, the indefinite total shutdown imposed by ITLF in the district has been called off with immediate effect," the ITLF said in a statement, according to the PTI report. Calls to the Churachandpur deputy commissioner, Dharun Kumar S, went unanswered. CoTU Headlines "False And Baseless": Defence Spokesperson A Defence Ministry spokesperson, referring to local media reports that cited another Kuki group Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), said the army "is neither involved nor has made any agreement, as mentioned in reports." "Such misinformation harms peace process - media is urged to verify with authorised sources, before publishing," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson referred to reports in the local media headlined 'COTU Calls Off Shutdown' and 'Shutdown Over Langchingmanbi Killing Called Off' that were published in some local newspapers on June 22 as "false and baseless". 🚫 Reports titled 'COTU Calls off Shutdown' & "Shutdown over Langchingmanbi Killing Called Off" published on 22 Jun 202 5 in a few of the local newspapers in #Manipur are false & baseless. 🔴 The #IndianArmy is neither involved, nor has made any agreement, as mentioned in... — PRO Defence, Manipur, Nagaland & South Arunachal (@prodefkohima) June 22, 2025 Over 260 people have been killed and thousands have been displaced in the Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence that began in May 2023. The Centre imposed President's rule after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned in February. The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.

The Hindu

21 hours ago

• The Hindu

Militant arrested; arms, ammunition seized in Manipur

'A militant belonging to the banned outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (PWG) was arrested in Imphal West district of Manipur,' a police statement said on Sunday (June 22, 2025.) 'A large cache of arms and ammunition were also seized in separate search operations in Imphal East and Kakching districts. The arrest and arms seizures were made on Saturday (June 21, 2025),' it said. 'A total of 19 'demand letters', used for extortion, were seized from the possession of the militant, identified as Yanglem Sadananda Singh (26),' the statement said. 'Also, in a search operation in Mayophung-Sanasabi Hill in Imphal East district, a .303 bipod mounted rifle, seven .303 cartridges, two heavy-calibre mortars, 20 heavy-calibre mortar shells, two IEDs, four radio sets with charger, a pistol with three cartridges, 12 grenades and a bulletproof jacket were seized,' it said. In another search operation in the foothills of Chingkhei Ching Phaknung village in Imphal East district, an INSAS light machine gun with magazine, an INSAS rifle with magazine, two self-loading rifles with magazines, a sniper rifle, a .32 pistol with magazine, six 5.56mm INSAS cartridges, twenty-one 5.56mm empty cases and four 9mm empty cases were seized. In the third search operation in Nongmaikhong Makha Leikai hill range in Kakching district, an SMG carbine with two magazines, an AK-47 rifle, two single-barrel guns, one modified 9mm pistol with two magazines, three IEDs (weighing about 2 kg), eight wire detonators, and 10 PEK explosive packets each weighing 125 gm were seized.