Aizawl: United Kuki National Army (UKNA) commander-in-chief Thangkhomang Haokip, arrested in a joint operation by Assam Rifles and Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) in Aizawl on Thursday, will be sent to Manipur as no criminal case has been registered against him in Mizoram, a senior police officer said on Friday.Haokip was arrested in the Zemabawk area. “We learnt about Haokip’s arrest from the sister agencies and he is not in the custody of the state Police,” the official told TOI.“The case is most likely to be taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and in that case Haokip will be placed in the hands of the NIA,” he said.“Haokip is reported to have been accused of involvement in several criminal activities in Manipur while no criminal case is registered against him in Mizoram,” the official added.A central intelligence agency official said NIA personnel had also arrested two Kuki student leaders from Manipur at a hotel in Aizawl. A search operation was underway to trace other cadres of the banned UKNA who were reportedly hiding in the city, the official said.UKNA is a proscribed Kuki-Zo insurgent group operating mainly in Manipur’s hill districts and along the India-Myanmar border. Unlike several other Kuki-Zo armed groups, the outfit led by Haokip is not a signatory to the tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and Manipur govt.Haokip has been accused of involvement in several violent incidents, including the June 10, 2024, ambush on an advance security convoy of then Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh near Kotlen along National Highway-37 in Kangpokpi district.
