For Laisharam Herojit, a relief camp inmate from the Meitei community in Manipur’s Jiribam district, the worst fears have come true—his family has been executed. Speaking in an almost inaudible, slow voice, over the phone from Jiribam, he confirmed, “It is true.” His two children, wife, mother-in-law, wife’s sister, and her son are all dead, killed in captivity by suspected Kuki militants after being taken hostage on Monday from the town that borders Assam.
The partially decomposed bodies of Herojit’s 60-year-old mother-in-law and his two-and-a-half-year-old son were found floating in a river near Jiribam, police confirmed today. The body of Herojit’s son was headless and found wedged between broken tree branches floating in the river. Eyewitnesses told NDTV that the arms were missing from the boy’s body. The semi-naked body of his grandmother was found floating face down in the water.
The boy, L. Chingheinganba, and his grandmother, Y. Rani Devi, were taken hostage at gunpoint along with the other family members on Monday, amid an encounter between militants and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jiribam’s Borobekra area, around 220 km from the state capital Imphal. Three bodies—those of Herojit’s eight-month-old baby, his wife’s sister, and her eight-year-old daughter—were brought to a hospital morgue in Assam’s Silchar at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The body of Herojit’s wife has not been recovered yet, although government sources have confirmed that all six hostages are dead.
Soon after reports of the tragedy emerged on Saturday morning, violence erupted in Imphal, the state capital. Protesters vandalised houses of ruling BJP MLAs and attempted to storm the official bungalow of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh. The protesters were angry over what they claimed was the government’s inaction in launching a rescue operation and its lack of communication before confirming the deaths of the hostages.
Police sources told NDTV that at least two dozen suspected Kuki militants split into two groups before launching the attack in Borobekra. While one group took civilians hostage, the other group vandalized and set houses on fire. Ten militants from the group that attacked a CRPF camp were shot dead, according to the police.
The Kuki tribes claim that the 10 men killed in the encounter were “village volunteers,” an allegation that police and other authorities have strongly denied. Security forces have released visuals of assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), which they say were brought by the militants, as well as images of a police SUV with numerous bullet holes.
Political leaders across party lines have condemned the killing of women and children in Manipur, with most calling it a terrorist attack, noting that it was not a mere skirmish between two communities but a calculated hostage-taking operation with the intent to execute. “Deeply saddened by the tragic incident in Manipur. Six innocent lives (three women and three minors) from the Meitei community were kidnapped and killed by Kuki terrorists. Condemn terrorism! Demand severe punishment for the culprits,” Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The Mizoram government issued a statement expressing its sorrow over the recent violence in Manipur and offered condolences to the families of the victims. The statement also urged everyone to refrain from actions that could escalate communal tensions within Mizoram in connection with the ongoing conflict in Manipur.
Former Manipur Chief Minister and Congress leader O. Ibobi Singh addressed the press today, stating that MLAs are ready to resign en masse if it helps resolve the crisis in the state. His remarks came after an ultimatum from the influential Meitei civil society group COCOMI, urging state leaders to take decisive action on the Manipur crisis or step down. “We have already mentioned that we MLAs will resign if it can solve the crisis. We are ready to quit in the interest of the state if the crisis can be solved with our resignation. But the onus of the situation lies with the state and the Centre; there is no law and order. There is a complete breakdown of constitutional systems. This is the government’s responsibility that they can’t ignore,” said Mr. Ibobi.
The latest wave of violence in Jiribam began on Thursday when suspected Meitei insurgents attacked a village of the Hmar tribe. A woman from the Hmar tribe was killed in the attack. Her husband, in a police report, alleged that she was shot in the leg, raped, and then set on fire by the suspected Meitei militants. Civil society groups from the Kuki tribes have accused the Manipur government of staying silent on Thursday’s attack.
The following day, a woman from the Meitei community was shot dead by suspected Kuki militants while working in a paddy field in Bishnupur, a district in the valley. Meitei civil society groups claimed the shooting came from a nearby hill, while Kuki groups denied the allegations, stating that the distance from the nearest hill to the paddy field was too great for the shot to have come from there.
Also read: Kailash Gahlot’s Resignation: Alleged BJP Links Shake AAP
Kuki groups also accused Meitei insurgents of attempting to shoot at central forces for blocking their passage through a sensitive area, or “buffer zone,” but missing and hitting the farmer instead.
The conflict between the Kuki and Meitei communities has been ongoing since May 2023, fueled by disputes over land rights and political representation.