A Kuki woman was killed and three others injured in two separate shootings in Manipur’s hill districts. Kuki Inpi Manipur has accused the state police of ethnic bias over the contrasting descriptions of the incidents.
BY PC BUREAU
November 13: Two separate firing incidents in Manipur’s hill districts on November 12 left a Kuki woman dead and three people injured, but the differing language used by Manipur Police to describe the attacks has triggered allegations of ethnic bias and selective attribution.
A 40-year-old Kuki woman was killed and two men were wounded in a morning shooting near the Senapati-Kangpokpi border. In a separate incident that afternoon, a Tangkhul Naga farmer was shot and injured in Ukhrul district.
The controversy centres on how the police described the suspected perpetrators. While its statement on the first shooting referred only to a “firing incident”, the second explicitly blamed “suspected Kuki armed miscreants”.
In the first incident, gunfire broke out around 11.05 am in the area between Kuki Taphou and Kailenjang villages under Senapati Police Station.
imneineng Chongloi, 40, of Taphou Kuki village, was killKed. Two other men from the same area, Sehngam alias David Chongloi, 34, and Lamkhochon Chongloi, 46, sustained bullet injuries.
Manipur Police said additional personnel from the state police, CRPF, BSF and Assam Rifles had been deployed. Security forces cordoned off nearby villages and launched search operations, while the injured were evacuated to hospital.
The police statement did not identify any suspected attackers or specify the circumstances of the shooting.
Local accounts said the victims were harvesting paddy under security cover arranged earlier by Senapati Police when the firing occurred. Kuki-Zo organisdation and locasl sources claimed that NSCN (I-M) armed groups were behind the attack.
A second shooting was reported around 3 pm near Sinakeithel village in Ukhrul district.
According to Manipur Police, “suspected Kuki armed miscreants” fired several rounds from Lungter Hills towards farmers harvesting paddy in fields under Litan Police Station.
Newton Mahung, 45, a resident of Sinakeithel, sustained a bullet injury to his right shoulder. Security personnel from Ukhrul District Police, BSF and the 6th Manipur Rifles retaliated, evacuated him to District Hospital Ukhrul and moved other farmers to safety.
Manipur Police Under Fire
Kuki-Zo civil society organisations (CSOs) and social media users slammed Manipur Police over what they describe as discriminatory treatment in its handling of the two firing incidents. They questioned why the police were quick to attribute the attack on a Tangkhul Naga farmer to “suspected Kuki armed miscreants”, but made no reference to Naga attackers in the shooting that killed the Kuki woman and injured two other men near the Senapati-Kangpokpi border.
READ: Jensen Huang’s Three Affairs: Another Nvidia Employee in the Spotlight
For Kuki-Zo groups, the contrasting language reinforces longstanding allegations that the state police apply different standards when dealing with violence involving the two communities.
Social media users from the Kuki-Zo community also accused the Manipur police of selective attribution, demanding to know whether the suspected perpetrators in the Ukhrul shooting had been identified through evidence or whether the description was based on preliminary claims.
The criticism has gained momentum following Kuki Inpi Manipur’s demand for an internal inquiry, a public explanation and corrective action within 72 hours.
#Manipur #Police #Exposed
Examine the 2 posts and it’s clear as day that @manipur_police is #Meitei & #KachaNaga police. Here’s why:
1)Both incidents involved farmers. Victim is Kuki? No mention of what they were doing when fired upon. Victim Kacha Naga? Call them “farmers”. 1/2 https://t.co/G43EYp6jDw— David 𝐊𝐮𝐤𝐢 (@KipsKuki) November 12, 2026
In a statement, Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex Kuki organisation, accused the police of “blatant double standards and ethnic prejudice”.
It said the killing of Chongloi and the injuries to two other Kuki civilians had been described merely as a “firing incident”, without any reference to the suspected perpetrators. By contrast, the police had attributed the attack on the Tangkhul Naga farmer to “suspected Kuki armed miscreants”.
KIM questioned whether the police had concrete evidence to support the attribution in the second case and whether anyone had been identified or arrested in connection with that shooting.
The organisation alleged that such differences in official communication reflected a pattern of selective reporting that had persisted since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
KIM demanded an immediate internal inquiry into the drafting and circulation of the two police statements, a public explanation of the differences and disciplinary action against officials if misconduct was established.
It also sought a formal assurance from the Director General of Police that future communications would be uniform, impartial and based on verified evidence.
The Kuki organisation has given Manipur Police a 72-hour deadline (from its 13 November 2026 statement) to provide a “satisfactory clarification and initiate corrective action” over what it describes as selective and ethnically biased reporting of two firing incidents on 12 November. Failure to comply, it says, will lead it to pursue legal and constitutional remedies, including suspension of cooperation with the police in Kuki areas.
What the Ultimatum Actually Demands
The four specific demands are:
- An internal investigation to identify officers who drafted, approved, and circulated the two statements.
- A public explanation of the inconsistent language and disclosure of the evidentiary basis for labelling the attackers in the Sinakeithel (Ukhrul) case as “suspected Kuki armed miscreants.”
- Disciplinary proceedings against personnel found responsible for “deliberate misrepresentation or discriminatory reporting.”
- A formal assurance from the DGP that all future police communications will be “uniform, impartial and evidence-based.”
Security forces remained deployed at both locations, with investigations into the shootings underway. No arrests in connection with either incident had been publicly confirmed as of November 13.
The two incidents have added to concerns over the safety of farmers working in fields in Manipur conflict-affected hill districts, where tensions and armed confrontations involving Kuki and Naga groups have continued.
