National Investigating Agency (NIA) arrested two more accused on Saturday in connection with the abduction and killing of six Nagas in Manipur; leading to four arrests so far, police said.
Manipur police on X confirmed and identified the accused as “Lungoulal Vaiphei resident of Leilon Vaiphei village, Leimakhong, Kangpokpi, and Lunminthang Sitlhou alias Jack resident of Molhoi Village, Leimakhong, Kangpokpi district of Manipur.”
It said that the duo was arrested by a joint team of NIA, Manipur police, and the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) during the follow-up investigation adding that “further efforts are on to arrest other individuals connected with the case.”
Earlier, a joint team of NIA assisted by Manipur police and CRPF arrested a couple on July 10, Watham Pradip (42) and Watham Ongbi Ayingbi alias Mangaig (44) residing in Leilon Vaiphei village, Kangpokpi district.
There are speculations that a police personnel in Kangpokpi district was also interrogated for his alleged involvement in the abduction and killing of six Naga civilians. However, the exact role of that police officer is yet to be ascertained.
Leilon Vaiphei is a Kuki-dominated village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, where 20 Nagas were abducted while travelling and held hostage following the May 13 twin ambush in Kangpokpi and Noney districts, which claimed four lives including three church leaders and one Naga man.
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That same evening 28 Kukis were also abducted and held hostage by Naga groups.
However, following repeated appeals from several groups and the Manipur government, 14 from each side were set free on May 15. 14 Kukis and six Nagas remained hostages by either group.
On June 9, Naga groups released 14 Kukis; however, six Nagas were found the next day as mutilated bodies near Kharam Vaiphei (a village near Leilon Vaiphei village).
On June 25, Henlienthang Thanglet, chairman of the Kuki Zo Council (KZC), a Kuki-Zo apex body, accepted the killing of six Nagas. “Yes, I agreed that the Kuki-Zo has made a great mistake in killing of six ‘Kacha Nagas,’ civilian which is made out of emotion. I really regret it”, said Thanglet during a press conference.
On June 26, KZC issued a clarification statement signed by its spokesperson Ginza Vualzong and said, “Chairman’s expression of regret was made purely in the spirit of humanity, compassion and moral responsibility. His remark were never intended to assign collective guilt to the Kuki-Zo people or to suggest that the Kuki-Zo community was responsible for the killings.”
The ethnic clashes in Manipur first began between the Meitei and Kuki communities before involving almost every community. The state’s Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities shut each other out from the areas they dominate since ethnic clashes began in May 2023 and left at least 260 people dead and displaced 60,000.
The Meiteis, mostly Hindu, live largely in the Imphal valley. The Kukis, predominantly Christian, reside in the hills. The state government has maintained that there are no buffer zones dividing communities in the state, but it has identified certain sensitive areas.
A new government was formed in February, nearly a year after the imposition of the President’s Rule. It includes representatives from all three major communities as part of an attempt to maintain ethnic balance.
