Imphal (Gurpreet Singh): Fresh violence erupted in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Tuesday after suspected militants gunned down two women from the Kuki community and set several farmhouses ablaze on the outskirts of an interior village. According to local administrative officials and police reports, the victims were attacked in an isolated field near Leisangphai village while collecting firewood and tending to farm chores. The deceased were identified as 60-year-old Chonga Sitlhou and 30-year-old Kimboi Singson, whose bullet-riddled bodies were recovered by villagers shortly after the assailants fled the area. Following the gunfire, the miscreants torched multiple temporary kutcha farm dwellings, while search efforts continued amid fears that several missing villagers could not be traced.
The incident comes barely 48 hours after four civilians were slain in coordinated weekend strikes across Tamenglong and neighbouring Noney districts. On September 13, assailants raided Tollen Kuki village in Tamenglong, killing a married couple and injuring their young child inside their residence. Later that afternoon, another targeted shooting in Longpi village claimed two more lives, underscoring volatile security conditions in remote border pockets. Local authorities confirmed that security reinforcements have been dispatched to the area to stabilize the situation and prevent retaliatory escalation.
The unabated bloodshed drew sharp condemnation from civil society groups, with the apex tribal body Kuki Inpi Manipur stating that community members would refuse to claim the victims’ mortal remains until the perpetrators are apprehended and justice is delivered. Questioning the prolonged silence of both central and state administrations in the face of repeated attacks on innocent civilians, the council warned that administrative inaction is steering the regional crisis toward a dangerous tipping point. The apex tribal leadership demanded comprehensive accountability, enhanced military patrolling, and immediate legal action against armed factions responsible for civilian deaths across the hill districts.
