IMPHAL (The Thursday Times) — Peer ko mushtabah shiddat pasandon ne Imphal East aur Kangpokpi ke zilon ki sarhad ke qareeb lakriyan jama karne wale kam az kam do afrad ko goli maar kar halak kar diya, jis par ghusse mein aaye maqami log lashein Manipur ke Wazir-e-Aala Yumnam Khemchand Singh ki sarkari rihaishgah ke gate tak le gaye, jahan police ne hujoom ko muntashir karne ke liye tear gas ke shell daghe.
Aik senior police afsar ne bataya ke mushtabah shiddat pasandon ne Imphal East mein Nongshum gaon ke qareeb subah taqreeban 9:40 baje Meitei afrad ke group par fire khola, jabke hamle mein kai doosre zakhmi hue. Security forces fauran mauqe par pahunchein aur zakhmiyon ko Imphal ke hospital muntaqil kiya gaya. Halak hone walon ki kul tadad ke bare mein reports mukhtalif theen, kuch mein do halak aur kuch mein teen bataye gaye, saath hi kai zakhmi aur kam az kam aik shakhs lapata bataya gaya.
Ehtijaji logon ne baad mein do maqtooleen ki lashein Imphal mein wazir-e-aala ke bungalow ke sadar darwaze tak pahunchayin. Police ne hujoom ko muntashir karne ke liye tear gas ke kai shell daghe, jis ke baad lashein Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences muntaqil ki gayin. Ahalkaron ne rihaishgah ke ird gird security sakht kar di aur wahan jane wale raston par aamad-o-raft mehdood kar di.
Meitei Heritage Society, aik civil society ki tanzeem, ne hamle ka zimmedar "Kuki shiddat pasandon" ko thehraya aur social media par kaha ke United National Liberation Front (Pambei) ka qareebi camp June mein gaon walon ke aitraz ke bawajood muntaqil kar diya gaya tha, jin ke bare mein tanzeem ka kehna hai ke unhon ne khabardar kiya tha ke aisa hamla ho sakta hai. Tanzeem ne sawal uthaya ke sooba hukumat ne munasib security kyun faraham nahin ki aur hamla awaron ke khilaf karrwai ka mutalba kiya. Kuki shiddat pasandon ke shamil hone ke dawe ki azadana taur par tasdeeq nahin hui.
The Khamenlok Area Core Committee, a Kuki-Zo body, condemned the killings and said “violence has never been and will never be a solution to any problem,” while warning that it feared being falsely blamed for the attack. The group recalled that its own area had been burned during communal violence in June 2023.
Chief Minister Khemchand Singh chaired a security meeting at the state secretariat with Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam, the chief secretary, the police chief and representatives of the army, Assam Rifles, CRPF and BSF, condemning what he called the “killing of innocent civilians by armed miscreants.” Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen also condemned the attack and appealed to residents to remain calm and avoid retaliation.
Manipur has been gripped by ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 2023, with more than 300 people killed and over 60,000 displaced. A period of relative calm followed the imposition of President’s Rule in February 2025 after the resignation of then-Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, but tensions have resurfaced since Khemchand Singh took office in February 2026, a period that has also seen clashes between Kuki and Naga communities.
