Photo: PP Yoonus / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Three men were killed and three others wounded on Monday, October 19, when suspected militants opened fire on villagers collecting firewood in the hills near Nongshum in Manipur’s Imphal East district, officials said. The attack, at Khongbal Sunurok on the boundary between Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts, set off angry protests in Imphal, where residents carried two of the bodies to the gate of Chief Minister Y. Khemchand Singh’s residence.
Ambushed while loading wood
According to officials, the victims were part of a group of 16 villagers who had walked up to the hills on Monday morning to bring back firewood. Survivors said the gunmen were already lying in wait. “While we were loading the firewood, we were suddenly fired upon,” one injured man told reporters at a private hospital in Imphal. Another survivor, Thokchom Kiranjit, said the shots came from several directions without any provocation and that he escaped by running.
The dead were identified as Arubam Ronil, Lairenlakpam Inaobi and Kshetrimayum Sushil, all from the Nongshum area. Ronil and Inaobi died at the spot, while Sushil died of his injuries a little later. The three injured men are in hospital in Imphal. Earlier in the day, officials had said three members of the group were unaccounted for.
Tear gas outside the Chief Minister’s residence
Residents brought two of the bodies to the main gate of the Chief Minister’s bungalow at Babupara to protest against the continuing violence. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, and the bodies were later moved to a hospital mortuary. Security was tightened around the bungalow and the roads leading to it. Khemchand Singh later visited the injured in hospital but did not speak to the media.
Demonstrations spread to other parts of the capital. Protesters blocked a road at Khurai Lamlong, women gathered at the Ima Keithel market, and shops and markets across Imphal downed shutters. At Khwairamband Bazar, protesters also demanded the release of people detained during the demonstration outside the Chief Minister’s residence.
Calls for calm, and a demand to move a camp
Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen condemned the killings, asked law enforcement agencies to act swiftly and bring the attackers to justice, and urged people to ignore rumours and avoid retaliation.
Manipur has suffered enough, and our people deserve peace and security.
Nemcha Kipgen, Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur
The local MLA, Thokchom Lokeshor Singh, alleged that Kuki-Zo militants were behind the attack and demanded the removal of a nearby Suspension of Operations (SoO) camp, where cadres of armed groups that have signed a truce with the government are housed. He also alleged that Assam Rifles personnel had promised villagers protection while they gathered firewood, and called for an inquiry into how the attack happened. Officials have not named any group.
Why it matters
Manipur has seen repeated bouts of ethnic violence since May 2023, and Monday’s attack follows a tense weekend. In Kamjong district, at least 15 houses were set on fire in Chassad village on Saturday night, a civilian was killed and four others were injured in an attack on the village, and three civilians were wounded by gunfire at the district headquarters, officials said. The last comparable killing linked to the divide between the valley and the hills was reported in January, when a man visiting his wife in Churachandpur district was dragged out of the house and shot dead. The Nongshum ambush has revived fears that the fragile calm between the valley and the surrounding hills could break down, and the pressure is now on the state government and central forces to secure such fringe villages.
