Five people were killed in the Manipur violence between Friday night and Saturday in the state’s Kamjong and Ukhrul districts. Houses and shops were set on fire. The killings are the latest round of the Kuki-Naga conflict that started in February this year, officials told PTI.
The dead include a Kuki woman who was a mother of five, a young Kuki man, two Naga villagers and a Nepali-origin farmer. At least 10 houses and 20 shops were burnt in Chassad village, NDTV reported. District authorities have banned gatherings in parts of Chassad to stop the violence from spreading.
A night and a day of violence
It started on Friday night. At around 9.40 pm, a 42-year-old woman was shot in Chassad, a Kuki-dominated village in Naga-majority Kamjong district. Her name was Domkhonei Touthang, according to Deccan Herald. She was hit near her neck and died within minutes.
Her killing set off an exchange of fire between armed groups that went on into Saturday morning. In those clashes, a young man was killed. NDTV named him as 23-year-old Michael Ngamminlen Haokip. He was reportedly shot dead on Saturday morning after armed men opened fire in the area.
Then came a second attack. At around 9.30 am on Saturday, suspected militants entered Ningchou village, a Tangkhul Naga settlement near the Myanmar border in Kamjong district, and opened fire. Two villagers were shot dead: Ngachanso Ningshen, 35, and Leishishan Leishadang, 48. The details of who attacked them are not confirmed yet, NDTV reported.
In a separate incident in Ukhrul district, 40-year-old Sandeep Rai was shot dead near Chepu Yaolen after suspected militants fired at the four-wheeler he was driving, officials said. He died inside the vehicle. Former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh said on X that Rai, a member of the Nepali community, was killed in what he called an ambush near Yolen.
Heavy firing was also reported between armed groups at Makui Ashang and Tapon in Kangpokpi district, the Tribune reported. But there is no word yet on casualties from that exchange.
Two different stories about one death
The killing of the woman in Chassad is disputed, and the two versions matter because they could decide what happens next.
The Kuki side says she was shot by personnel of the India Reserve Police Battalion during a protest. Deccan Herald reported that the firing took place during a protest against the detention of Kuki “village volunteers” by security forces.
The Naga side says the opposite. The Working Committee of the Tangkhul Naga Long alleged that an India Reserve Battalion patrol came under fire from Kuki militants in Chassad, and the woman was caught in the crossfire. It also alleged that Kuki militants later attacked Naga civilians and set nine houses on fire at the Kamjong district headquarters.
Neither version has been independently confirmed. What is confirmed is this: a woman is dead, and her death triggered the gunfight that killed at least one more person and burnt down homes.
There is one more disputed number. Biren Singh claimed on X that seven people lost their lives in a single day. Official sources quoted by PTI and the Tribune put the confirmed toll at five. Hub Network reported that two more Kuki men may have died, but said their deaths were not independently confirmed.
Houses and shops burnt
The property damage numbers also vary a little between outlets. NDTV reported that 10 houses and 20 shops were burnt in Chassad. Deccan Chronicle and the Tribune reported at least 10 houses torched. Hub Network reported at least eight houses and around 20 shops burnt.
The Committee on Tribal Unity called a 24-hour shutdown across Kangpokpi district from 6 pm on Saturday in response to the violence, NDTV reported.
After the clashes, the Kamjong district administration imposed prohibitory orders within a 400-metre radius of the Chassad police gate junction. This was done under Section 162 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, the new criminal code. In plain words: five or more people cannot gather there. It is the new version of the old Section 144 rule that most Indians know from curfew news.
The bigger picture
This did not come out of nowhere. Tensions between the Kukis and the Nagas rose in February after an alleged assault involving members of the two communities in Ukhrul district. Since then, more than 40 people have been killed in the conflict, Deccan Chronicle reported.
And that sits on top of an older wound. In May 2023, ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities. More than 300 people have been killed and more than 59,000 displaced since then, according to the Scroll. Manipur has barely had a calm year since.
What happens now
The timing is awkward for the government. The killings happened on the same day Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss the steps taken for peace since February, Deccan Herald reported. Home Minister Amit Shah is also expected to visit the state this month.
Security forces rushed to Ningchou and brought the situation under control there, officials said. The bodies were sent to the Kamjong district hospital for post-mortem examination. Local villagers claimed the Ningchou attackers fled towards Myanmar after the firing, but that has not been confirmed.
Five confirmed dead. Dozens of homes and shops burnt. A disputed story about how it all started. And a state that has now seen two rounds of ethnic conflict in three years. That is where Manipur stands this Sunday morning.
