Five Dead in Manipur While the State Fails to Protect

Five people died in two separate incidents in India's north-eastern state of Manipur, police said on Nov 1. Three men from the Kuki tribal group were shot dead in Noney district on Oct 31, around 9 am, near Tajeikaiphun village. Two more Kuki men, missing since October 28, turned up dead in Kangpokpi district on the morning of Nov 1. Five bodies. Five days of a state that couldn't, or wouldn't, keep anyone safe.

The three men were identified as Thanglensang Singson, Thangkhosei Haokip and Lamminsang Kipgen, all from Churachandpur district. The Kuki Inpi Manipur, a Kuki apex body, said they were village volunteers, ordinary people who had picked up the job of guarding their own communities because nobody else was doing it. "The murder of these three brave village volunteers in Noney district is the direct consequence of the state's reckless refusal to provide adequate security to vulnerable Kuki-Zo communities," the group said. It accused the authorities of "complicity through deliberate negligence" and called NSCN-IM, which it blames for the attack, "a proxy instrument for vested political agendas."

Who Gets Crushed

The other two victims were Paoginlal Hangshing, 20, and Tinginlun Chongloi, 21. Officials suspect they were abducted while travelling between Hengbung and Taphou villages. Joint teams from Manipur Police, CoBRA, CRPF, Assam Rifles and RAF searched along SP Road, a hilly stretch connecting Senapati and Kangpokpi districts. They found two young men dead. Police say combing operations will continue "to apprehend those behind the killings."

The Committee on Tribal Unity had imposed a total shutdown across Kangpokpi district from October 29, demanding their unconditional release. Thousands marched on Saturday seeking the safe release of the two boys. People shut down a district and filled the streets because they didn't trust the apparatus to bring their kids home. The apparatus brought back bodies.

The deaths pushed the toll in Naga-Kuki clashes since February to 68, Scroll.in reported. That fighting began after a Naga man was allegedly assaulted by Kuki men in February 2026, and the killing of three Kuki pastors in May triggered a cycle of retaliatory abductions and killings on both sides. Underneath it runs the older conflict between the Kuki and the mainly Hindu Meitei community, which began in May 2023 over economic benefits and job quotas. That's the fourth year of that conflict. More than 300 lives lost, and Reuters reports more than 60,000 displaced people still living in temporary shelters. Scroll.in reported that of about 60,000 displaced, 24,000 remain in relief camps.

Who Has the Power

The 2008 Suspension of Operations pact, signed by the Centre, the state and Kuki-Zo groups 18 years ago, expired on Sept 4 without renewal, according to Times of India. Security forces recently took over a camp and found only one of its 159 registered cadres present. They plan to audit all 14 camps. Under the pact, militant groups are confined to camps designated by the Union government. Governments signed papers, drew lines on maps, and called it order.

Meanwhile, hours after the Noney killings, thousands of Meitei and Naga protesters brought Imphal to a standstill. Reuters reported hundreds of thousands attended; Times of India said thousands. Their six-point resolution demanded abrogation of the SoO pact, resettlement of displaced people, withdrawal of Assam Rifles from border and conflict-hit areas, deployment of a neutral force, an NRC with 1951 as the base year, and removal of deputy chief minister Nemcha Kipgen. Cocomi convener Y Dhiren told the media: "We seek the resignation of the present govt for its failure to protect the lives and properties of the indigenous people of the state."

What They're Calling "Order"

Chief minister Y Khemchand Singh spoke at a National Unity Day event in Imphal. "A state cannot be governed by prioritising the interest of only one community," he said. "Community-centric ideas cannot bring integrity, a peaceful atmosphere or economic progress in the state."

Hindustan Times described the violence since May 2023 as a complete breakdown of law and order, the creation of ethnic enclaves, and a virtual bifurcation of the state. Marchers demand the state's resignation. Victims' groups accuse the state of negligence and complicity. And the man at the top lectures about unity.