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/Guwahati/New Delhi:

For the first time, crisis-hit Manipur saw the use of drones to drop bombs, signalling a major escalation in the state hit by ethnic violence between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes. Until yesterday, drones were used only for reconnaissance.

The Manipur Police on Sunday said suspected Kuki insurgents fired RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) using high-tech drones. They said the use of drones to drop bombs on security forces and civilians marked a “significant escalation”.

The matter becomes even more serious given the fact that the clashes between the valley-dominant 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, continue to break out intermittently as was seen on Sunday.

Top intelligence sources have confirmed the use of the weaponised drones and long-range sniper rifles in the attack on Koutruk village.

A 31-year-old woman from the Meitei community was killed in firing by suspected Kuki insurgents yesterday, the police said. Her 12-year-old daughter was among 10 injured, including two policemen and a local TV reporter. Most of the injured people had shrapnel wounds from explosives dropped by the drones, sources said.

Of RPGs, Bombs And Drones

The police’s claim that drones were used to fire RPGs need to be checked with evidence, sources told NDTV.

The drones may have dropped explosives, but firing rocket-propelled grenades would need a much larger machine than the ones spotted on Sunday over Koutruk, sources said.

A drone can drop bombs with little modification – all one needs is a kind of hook to attach the bomb, such as a mortar round, to the drone along with an interlocking mechanism that can be unlocked using remote control, a retired officer told NDTV, requesting anonymity.

A drone that can fire rockets, however, would be a full military grade one, the officer said, adding it is unlikely the drones seen on Sunday fired any RPGs. “They must have dropped bombs only, not fired rockets,” the officer said.

He said if drones are dropping mortar rounds, they would need to fly very high and the rounds need to hit hard, solid ground for the fuse to ignite. The rounds may not explode if it lands on soft ground, or if the release altitude is low, he added.

Dropping grenades from a drone – done commonly in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere – is not a high-tech solution, another defence expert told NDTV. Firing rockets from a drone, however, is far more complicated and needs a weapon-aiming sight installed on the drone operator’s monitor, the expert said.

From Hobby To Something Else

Before May 2023, the month clashes began, many people had been flying drones for personal use such as to upload videos in social media platforms. Both communities have vloggers with thousands of followers on YouTube and Instagram. Some of them have invested in high-end drones that can take stunning videos and have decent range.

Then a change happened.

After May 3, drones flown by both sides frequently appeared over villages near the foothills, sources in the security establishment have said. Though the drones would still work fine as tools for social media influencers or hobbyists, their appearance signalled a different usage pattern – they looked for ‘enemy’ positions, kept watch on them, and plotted attack or defence plans, they said.

Open Display On Social Media

Licypriya Kangujam, the child climate activist from Manipur, faced allegations from the Kuki tribes of buying expensive, high-end thermal drones and donating them to the Meitei volunteer defence group Arambai Tenggol.

Social media is full of videos showing both communities flaunting their drones.

In June this year, a man in Assam was arrested for allegedly sourcing drone parts to supply to a terror group in Manipur’s valley areas, sources in the state police’s special task force (STF) had said. The STF operatives had recovered a huge stock of drone parts from him.

In the same month, a man who allegedly tried to sneak into Manipur carrying 10 high-end drone batteries for a terror group was also arrested by the Assam STF. A filmmakers’ association of the Kuki tribes in Manipur, however, had refuted the allegations against what it called a renowned member of the association, who simply bought the drone batteries for work.

The police had called the arrest a “major breakthrough”, pointing at the use of beyond line-of-sight, military-grade drones by armed groups in Manipur amid the Meitei-Kuki ethnic conflict.

What About Myanmar, Just Across The Border

Drones have been used to bomb Myanmar’s junta army targets by Chin insurgents in Chin State, bordering India’s Manipur. But this was the first time they were used in Manipur.

Meitei civil society groups and even retired military officers have long alleged Myanmar’s Chin insurgents who share ethnic ties with the Kuki tribes living in India have been helping them, though the security forces and agencies haven’t given any evidence of it.

The clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and 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 nearly two dozen tribes that 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.

With inputs from Ratnadip Choudhury