Imphal/New Delhi:

An umbrella body of civil society groups of Manipur’s Meitei community has condemned the kidnapping for ransom and murder of a man in the violence-hit state.

The Meitei Alliance, an apex body of civil society groups of the valley-dominant community, in a statement said it is “crucial to keep legal issues free from communal divisions, as unity and justice are of paramount importance.”

The Manipur Police said six suspected members of the ‘Arambai Tenggol’ (AT) have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and killing Md Nawash, 33, on January 14. The body was found two days later, the police said.

Nawash was kidnapped from his house in Imphal East district’s Kairang Mayai Leikai neighbourhood, the police said, adding he was brought dead at Thoubal district hospital on January 16.

The six suspected members of the ‘Arambai Tenggol’ have been identified as Sagolsem Chingkheinganba Singh, 25; Chingakham Sanatomba Singh, 19; Sapam Somorjit Singh, 32; Maibam Bokenjit Singh, 24; Athokpam Jiban Singh, 30, and Chingakham Mani Singh, 41.

The Meitei Alliance thanked the police for their swift response in arresting the six suspects.

“We strongly call for a thorough investigation and prompt prosecution to ensure accountability. The Meitei Alliance also acknowledges and honours the significant contributions of the Meitei Pangal [Muslim] community to the state’s rich history, particularly the role they played in protecting Manipur,” the Meitei Alliance said.

“The Meitei Alliance stands united with the people of Manipur in condemning all forms of violence and urges everyone to respect the rule of law, refraining from taking matters into their own hands or making communal comments, especially on social media,” it said.

In connection with an incident of abduction of one Md. Nawash, 33 years, S/o Md. Leharuddin of Keirang Mayai Leikai PS – Heingang from his house on 14.01.2025 for ransom by suspected members of AT, who was later brought dead today at Thoubal District hospital, Manipur Police has…

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) January 16, 2025

Police records show several AT members have been arrested and some have been summoned by local courts in the last few months. On December 3, three AT members who were planning to extort money from the public and government officials were arrested in the state capital Imphal.

The Arambai Tenggol maintains it started out as a youth group, but took up arms after ethnic clashes with the Kuki tribes began in May 2023. Locally known as AT, it faces charges of looting weapons from police armouries, acts which it says were necessary to protect the Meitei community from heavily armed Kuki militants and due to ineffective action by the security forces in the early days of the ethnic clashes.

Several military and paramilitary leaders have said armed groups from both sides – many of them call themselves “volunteers” – are involved in the Manipur violence.

There are hundreds of videos from the Manipur conflict where Kuki and Meitei ‘volunteers’ are seen brandishing assault rifles, sniper guns, machine guns, grenade launchers, etc.

Imphal:

Leaders of the Meitei and the Meitei Pangal (Muslim) communities in Manipur held a meeting today to defuse tension following an attack on a Meitei Pangal youth by the Arambai Tenggol (AT).

Rajya Sabha MP Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba in a statement said he met leaders of both the communities, who agreed “the culprits should be punished as per law”.

A Meitei Pangal leader from Kwakta, 50 km from the state capital Imphal, told reporters that some AT members assaulted a Meitei Pangal youth and allegedly hurt religious sentiments.

“Today is January 5. If the Arambai Tenggol does not apologise and clarify by January 7, we will work with all CSOs [civil society organisations] and start a massive agitation and consider taking other steps for justice,” the Meitei Pangal leader told reporters.

The Meitei Pangal community in Kwakta, an area between Churachandpur and Bishnupur, have been caught in the crossfire between the Kuki tribes and the Meitei community.

In a post on X, the Rajya Sabha MP from Manipur said the meeting of leaders from both the communities agreed on three points – maintain peaceful co-existence, punish the culprits, and avoid hate speech aimed at creating communal trouble.

They also decided to ask the cyber crime department to look for troublemakers on social media and catch them.

“In connection with a recent development of misunderstanding and misconception between Meitei and Meitei Pangal communities, I have a fruitful session with leaders of both the communities at Sana Konung today (6th January, 2025),” Mr Leishemba said in the post on X.

“… Resolved that both the communities should continue to maintain age-old peaceful co-existence which have been continuing for the last so many years. We should respect each other’s social ethics and religious practices also,” he said. “As a well-wisher of Manipur I earnestly appeal to one and all Manipuris not to take up any action contrary to the ethics of peaceful co-existence in the state.”

Held a fruitful session today with the leaders of Meitei & Meitei Pangal and earnestly appeal to all not to take up any action contrary to the ethics of Peaceful co- existence in the state. pic.twitter.com/Oiz9qAbd34

— Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba. (@MaharajaManipur) January 6, 2025

Members of the AT call themselves “village defence volunteers”, in response to similar groups of the Kuki tribes with whom the Meiteis have been engaged in clashes since May 2023. Both sides face allegations of atrocities.

The National Investigation Agency is looking into two cases linked to AT chief Korounganba Khuman.

The Manipur Police in March warned the AT after the group attacked the house of a senior police officer. The police had said the AT was “engaged in many anti-social activities such as assaulting civilians, and snatching vehicles from the public and government officials.”

The police have often shared information on X about arrests of AT members for alleged extortion.

In the early days of the ethnic clashes after May 3, 2023, Korounganba Khuman was seen in visuals walking with a bamboo stick, while in the distance smoke was seen rising from a village behind a treeline. AT members say they were compelled to take up arms soon after May 3, 2023 due to attacks allegedly by heavily armed Kuki militants in the foothills and in the absence of effective law-and-order enforcement.

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

Three members of the Arambai Tenggol who were on the prowl to extort money from the public and government officials were arrested in Manipur’s capital Imphal, the police have said. A Ghatak assault rifle with one magazine and five rounds, a .32 country made pistol with magazine, three mobile phones, a four-wheeler and other incriminating material were seized from them during the operation on Sunday, the police said in a statement.

“Manipur Police arrested three armed miscreants and apprehended one juvenile from… Imphal East district, who were found loitering in the area to commit… extortion of money from general public and government officials… as well as threatening the general public,” the police said in a statement. “They were later found to be members of Arambai Tenggol,” the police said, referring to the Meitei armed group which calls itself “defence volunteers”.

The Arambai Tenggol maintains it started out as a youth group of the valley-dominant Meitei community, but took up arms after ethnic clashes with the Kuki tribes began in May 2023. Locally known as AT, it faces charges of looting weapons from police armouries, acts which it says were necessary to protect the Meitei community from Kuki militants and due to ineffective action by security forces in the early days of the ethnic clashes.

On 01.12.2024, Manipur Police arrested 03 (three) armed miscreants and apprehended 01 (one) juvenile from Kshetrigao Sabal Leikai, Imphal East District who were found loitering in the area to commit prejudicial activities like extortion of money from general public and government…

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) December 2, 2024

The Kuki tribes also have armed groups equipped with modern assault rifles and other military-grade weapons, who call themselves “village volunteers”.

The three AT members have been identified as Ningombam Lemba Singh, 25; Mangshatabam Poireinganba Meitei, 21, and Laishram Bidyas Singh, 21.

The Manipur Police said they recovered a large amount of guns, ammunition and other lethal items during operations in the fringe and vulnerable areas in the hills and valley districts.

Search For Missing Man

The police said joint teams including the Indian Army are searching for a man from the Meitei community who went missing from an army base in Leimakhong.

“Indian Army has extended all support and resources to trace him using over 2,000 troops, helicopters, drones and army tracker dogs. Further investigation using technical intelligence is being undertaken,” the police said in the statement.

Rising Extortion Cases

There has been numerous extortion threats by groups of armed people in recent times in Manipur, especially in urban areas such as Imphal city and the district headquarters in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, sources had told NDTV in October, adding these groups are taking advantage of the Manipur crisis that have kept the police and the security forces occupied on maintaining peace.

AT members getting arrested for attempting to extort from the public is not new and not likely to stop, a retired senior police officer who is assisting the current administration told NDTV, requesting anonymity. “All kinds of gangs with five-six members using unheard-of militant group names have been extorting from the people despite such hard times,” the retired officer said.

Many shop owners in Imphal have complained of being forced to pay up by armed people, despite failing businesses due to no economic activity for over a year since violence began in May 2023. ‘Requests’ to pay up by random armed people have only been rising, they alleged.

“If you ask anyone in Imphal, they will say the same thing – extortion and thefts have increased. All businesses are dead. Where will money come from? People are stealing cooking gas cylinders, water pumps, anything they can get. Cooking gas costs over Rs 2,500 in the black market,” an Imphal resident had told NDTV in October, requesting anonymity.

Of the 39 terrorist organisations banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), eight are Meitei outfits from Manipur.

The only Meitei group that has agreed for talks is the United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P). This outfit – which is one of the two factions of the oldest Meitei armed group – is overground now after it signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November 2023.

The rise in extortion cases in Manipur comes after nearly a decade of relative peace and calm. Startups and entrepreneurship in Manipur had been growing fast, boosted by central and state assistance policies, until the ethnic violence put brakes on all economic activity.

Imphal:

A top human rights activist in Manipur has raised concern over threats by the Imphal-based group Meitei Leepun (ML) after he gave legal aid to a Norwegian national, who, he said, was misidentified as a “Christian Chin” by the ML.

Human Rights Alert (HRA) executive director Babloo Loitongbam in a statement on Tuesday said some 50 men came to his house in the state capital Imphal on Monday and threatened his family.

“This [threat] is following a press conference by Meitei Leepun (ML) the previous day levelling false charges on me as well as warning people against working with me,” Mr Loitongbam said in the statement.

The ML has alleged the longtime human rights defender has taken money from the Kuki tribes to work against the interest of Meiteis. At Monday’s press conference, the ML members also alleged Mr Loitongbam has been helping a “PDF Women Wing Commander” identified as Mya Kyay Mon, who the ML claimed was a Myanmar national of Chin ethnicity.

The PDF, or People’s Defence Force, is the armed wing of Myanmar’s National Unity Government that is fighting the junta.

Mr Loitongbam has refuted all these allegations. Citing his three-decade work as a human rights defender, the father of three daughters said he stood up for the right of every person to seek asylum in another country when they are facing persecution in their own country.

“This includes asylum seekers in India from Myanmar through the medium of appropriate institutions like a functioning Regional Foreigners Registration Office or by giving access to the UN High Commissioner for Refugee to offer its humanitarian services in Manipur,” Mr Loitongbam said in the statement.

READ | Manipur Police Warn Armed Group ‘Arambai Tenggol’ After Attack On Senior Officer’s House

He said Mya Kyay Mon was referred to HRA as a woman prisoner in distress, and as an empanelled lawyer under the Manipur Legal Services Authority, the HRA offered legal aid, secured her bail and referred her to a woman’s home in Imphal pending her trial.

“She is a citizen of Norway, and is of Burma-Buddhist origin. She is not a Chin nor a Christian as widely circulated online. The only charge levelled against was that of overstaying her visa. There is no other charge against her. To the best of our knowledge, she is still detained in Imphal jail,” Mr Loitongbam said in the statement.

“The allegation that I have accompanied her to the UN and the US to raise funds is factually incorrect as she is still placed under judicial custody by the state authority,” he added.

Mr Loitongbam called a “figment of imagination” another allegation by the ML that he was in touch with the civil society group Manipur Meitei Association Bangalore to be part of a “Naga-Kuki-Meitei meeting” to frame the Meitei community for genocide.

The association, too, in a statement denied any such meeting was planned, and asked people to guard against “misleading information being shared by vested interests seeking to divide the Meitei community and tarnish our reputation”.

Caught In Crossfire

The ethnic tension between the valley-dominant Meiteis and the Kuki tribes, who are dominant in some hill districts in southern Manipur and a few other areas, have sharply divided the two communities to such an extent that both sides have publicly attacked and harassed any member of their community who held views not popular with their respective communities.

Mr Loitongbam is duty-bound to help anyone from any community as part of the Manipur Legal Services Authority empanelment. The case of Mya Kyay Mon being referred to HRA was, however, seen by the ML as working against Meiteis since the ML had already decided that Mya Kyay Mon was a Myanmar national of Chin ethnicity and the Kuki tribes share ethnic ties with the Chin people.

Mr Loitongbam’s house was vandalised in October 2023 after he discussed the ML and the Meitei village defence group Arambai Tenggol in a media interview. He later withdrew the comments following threats.

READ | “Every Peace Rally Is Violence Day For Kukis”: Manipur BJP Spokesperson’s House Set On Fire For 3rd Time

Members of the Kuki tribes have also attacked a prominent Thadou tribe leader for his views that the Kukis saw as unhelpful in their narrative against the Meiteis. Thadou tribe leader T Michael Lamjathang Haokip’s house was vandalised twice and set on fire in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district in August last week.

Mr Haokip has said he has been raising awareness about his tribe, Thadou, being inaccurately referred to as a Kuki tribe amid the ethnic tension in Manipur. This had angered “Kuki supremacists” as they do not want to accept the Thadou tribe’s distinct identity, Mr Haokip has said.

Three Kuki-Zo MLAs from among the 10 who have been demanding a separate administration carved out of Manipur had clarified they want their own tribes to be called by their correct names, instead of being associated only with the term “Kuki-Zo”.

On social media, the three MLAs received threats of boycott and other “consequences” for allegedly weakening the Kuki tribes’ resolve to persuade the Centre to create a separate administration. One of the BJP MLAs had told NDTV everyone should feel free to state facts about the tribe they belong to. “I fail to understand why threats are coming my way for simply saying to which tribe I and the people I represent belong,” the leader had told NDTV, requesting anonymity.

Right after the attack at Mr Haokip’s house on August 31, a video appeared on social media of a man showing a gun and a bullet and threatening to kill Mr Haokip. Another video shows a man in black tactical wear surrounded by three in camouflage battle dress carrying AK series assault rifles – all of them masked – saying they will kill Mr Haokip wherever he is, whether “Delhi or Guwahati”.

Imphal/Guwahati:

A video uploaded on the Congress party’s official YouTube channel ‘INC TV’ has become the latest flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress in Manipur.

In the now-deleted video, the Congress’s former Manipur in-charge Bhakta Charan Das alleged the state BJP created “two special forces like the RSS and the Bajrang Dal… One is Arambai Tenggol, and the other is called Meitei Leepun.”

“What are these organisations?” Mr Das said, referring to the two controversial organisations, and comparing them with the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh then raised in a public forum the comment made by Mr Das and questioned the Congress over the allegations.

Don’t need to say anything regarding this. Check this link of @INCIndia and see and hear for yourself. Rather than saying you don’t agree with the statement of the Central Leaders, @INCManipur is saying it’s a fake video. I have nothing to say, it means they are accepting what… https://t.co/GuUD5LTTVWpic.twitter.com/W8aHqNN7RQ

— Rajkumar Imo Singh (Modi Ka Parivaar) (@imosingh) April 3, 2024

In response, Manipur Congress spokesperson Kh Ratankumar Singh told reporters the BJP MLA referred to a fake video that has been dubbed, in which Mr Das was purportedly heard blaming one community over the ethnic violence in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meiteis.

In his counterattack, Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, posted on the microblogging platform ‘X’ the video from the Congress’s official YouTube channel in which Mr Das is heard questioning the ruling BJP in Manipur over alleged links with the two groups.

“Don’t need to say anything regarding this. Check this link of the Congress and see and hear for yourself. Rather than saying you don’t agree with the statement of the central leaders (of Congress), Manipur Congress is saying it’s a fake video. I have nothing to say. It means they are accepting what Bhakta Charan Das is saying,” Rajkumar Imo Singh said in the post which also has a hyperlink to the now-deleted Congress video.

“If the video is wrong, the state Congress should have told its headquarters in Delhi. It should have countered its own party to defend Manipur’s image from being tarnished,” Rajkumar Imo Singh added.

The state Congress spokesperson later clarified that Mr Das did make the comments on the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun last year just after the ethnic clashes escalated, adding the fake video to which the Congress is referring to is about Mr Das blaming one community for the violence.

“We won’t lie. Das had said all this last year amid the violence. But bringing up this video now is only propaganda. It is out of context. And Das made the comments in his personal capacity. It was not the party’s official statement,” Kh Ratankumar Singh told reporters in the state capital Imphal.

In a press conference held today at Congress Bhavan, Imphal Dr. Ratankumar, Spokesperson, MPCC, clarified the alleged charge by Shri @imosingh, MLA, BJP Manipur.
He said that the video produced by the BJP MLA is a doctored video and only to spread fake news to the people of… pic.twitter.com/roWUpsGKwH

— INC Manipur (@INCManipur) April 2, 2024

BJP sources said the state Congress spokesperson’s clarification is bizarre, given that the Opposition has been criticising the Manipur BJP over alleged links with the two groups, and now suddenly the Congress has a change of heart and doesn’t want to criticise the Arambai Tenggol and the Meitei Leepun during election season.

“Why did the Congress remove the authentic YouTube video in which Mr Das is heard commenting on Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun?” a senior BJP leader said, requesting anonymity.

The Arambai Tenggol, or AT, is a Meitei youth group that faces allegations of taking up arms and attacking Kuki-Zo villages. The AT has denied the allegation, and claimed it is only a village defence volunteer group, same as those from the Kuki-Zo tribes who are holed up in bunkers on the hills with sophisticated weapons.

The Meitei Leepun, headed by Pramot Singh, has been in the news for its aggressive stand against the Kuki-Zo tribes, which the group holds responsible for the crisis in Manipur. The Manipur Police had filed a case against Pramot Singh in July 2023 for allegedly promoting enmity between groups and criminal conspiracy.

The Lok Sabha elections will be held for Manipur’s two parliamentary constituencies at a time when 45,000 people are still living in relief camps. Over 210 have died in the violence, which began in May 2023 over a number of reasons, mainly serious disagreements over sharing land, resources, political representation, and affirmative action policies.

The entire Inner Manipur constituency and some areas under Outer Manipur will vote on April 19. The remaining areas under Outer Manipur will vote on April 26. Votes will be counted on June 4. The key candidates are Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh (BJP), Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Congress), and Maheshwar Thounaojam of the Republican Party of India (Athawale).

Dimapur/New Delhi:

The people of Manipur should cooperate with the security forces in fighting armed groups that are exploiting the ethnic division in the state to carry out criminal activities, sources in the security forces told NDTV.

The appeal came a day after the Manipur Police in a strongly worded statement held the Meitei armed group Arambai Tenggol (AT) responsible for attacking a senior police officer in the state capital Imphal.

Members of the Arambai Tenggol call themselves “village defence volunteers”, in response to similar groups of the hill-majority Kuki-Zo tribes with whom the valley-majority Meiteis have been engaged in clashes since May 2023.

The AT enjoys wide support in the valley areas. Their supporters say the AT acts as a layer of defence in the absence of state forces in the foothills.

Sources in the security forces that are guarding “sensitive zones” near the foothills, however, have cautioned against what they called the “Arambai Tenggol’s false ideology” to mislead people for “personal gains”.

The Manipur Police, too, in a statement that was released to the media after a press briefing by two senior officers had said the AT is “engaged in many anti-social activities such as assaulting civilians, and snatching vehicles from the public and government officials.”

“We must give peace a chance. The people of Manipur must understand there are armed groups who are using brute muscle power to scare them into submission,” a source in the security forces told NDTV, requesting anonymity.

“We have been appealing to the people of Manipur to help the security forces bring peace. Many armed groups have attacked the security forces by taking advantage of the ethnic violence,” the source said.

In September 2023, a former Assam Regiment soldier Serto Thangthang Kom was kidnapped and killed by an unidentified armed group. He was posted in Manipur’s Leimakhong with the Defence Service Corps (DSC). “He was on leave at his house in Imphal West at the time of incident,” the Indian Army’s Spear Corps had said in a post on X.

#SpearCorps pays homage to Sep Serto Thangthang Kom, who was abducted and later killed by unidentified miscreants in #Manipur. Sep Serto had earlier served in Assam Regiment of Indian Army and was now posted with #DSC Platoon at Leimakhong Military Station. He was on leave at his… pic.twitter.com/giRdUdLait

— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) September 17, 2023

Two months later, an unidentified armed group kidnapped four people while they were travelling in an SUV from the hill district Churachandpur to Leimakhong, and killed them. The four were family members of an army soldier serving in Jammu and Kashmir. A fifth passenger, the father of the soldier, who was injured, managed to escape and was later airlifted by the army to Dimapur for treatment. He was eventually shifted to the base hospital in Assam’s Guwahati.

Sources said the body of the soldier’s mother has been found, and is being kept at a hospital. The authorities are working to take the body to Leimakhong, from where the body could be airlifted to Churachandpur for the last rites, sources said.

Tuesday’s attack on the house of a senior police officer in Imphal city was the latest in a series of cases in the valley areas involving the AT and possibly other armed groups, sources in the security forces said. Following the attack, the state had called in central forces including the army to Imphal city, from where the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act, or AFSPA, had been removed years ago. This law allows the security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without a warrant. The AFSPA is active in the hill areas due to presence of insurgents of several ethnicities along the border with troubled Myanmar.

“There is a need to make people aware about the dangers of falling into the propaganda trap of criminals who pretend to be working for society. The people should cooperate with the security forces to bring peace in Manipur,” the source in the forces said.

The clash between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meiteis has dragged on for 10 months now. Over 200 have died in the violence and thousands have been internally displaced.

Imphal:

The Manipur Police fired several rounds in the air today to disperse a mob that surrounded a police station near the Chief Minister’s office in the state capital Imphal. Curfew has been reimposed in the city.

Reports of gunfire at other parts of Imphal city have come at the time of filing this report.

The mob, allegedly led by the local youth group Arambai Tenggol, demanded weapons from the police station in protest against what they called the state government’s inaction following the killing of a senior police officer by an insurgent sniper in the India-Myanmar border town Moreh yesterday.

The mob clashed with the security forces and allegedly tried to surround the 1st Manipur Rifles complex, close to the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister’s office in Imphal West district, demanding arms and ammunition, police sources said.

To control the mob, the security forces first baton-charged them, but had to fire in the air as the crowds kept on pushing in. Some people were injured in the clash, police sources said.