99 arrests in a month and counting: Manipur sharpens crackdown on extortion by insurgents

Meiteis are in the majority in Manipur’s valley districts, while Nagas and Kuki-Zos are in majority in the hill districts.

The crackdown has gained more steam this month, with at least 78 arrests in February so far.

A senior security official connected this spate of arrests to an anti-extortion helpline launched last month by the Manipur Home Department. On January 26, an integrated anti-extortion cell was set up, compromising representatives of the police, central armed police forces and the Assam Rifles and Army. It also launched a helpline and urged members of the public to report cases of threats and extortion.

The highest number of arrests have been made in Imphal West and Imphal East districts. On February 14, seven suspected cadres of the Kuki National Army – one of the signatories in the Suspension of Operation agreement with the government – had been arrested in Churachandpur, though their arrest was not in connection with extortion.

On why these arrests are concentrated in the valley, a security official said, “It is proportional to the number of complaints being received. The population is much higher in the valley.”

Groups from which arrests have been made include factions of the UNLF, including the Pambei faction with which the Union and Manipur governments had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2023, as well as factions of the KCP and PREPAK, the PLA/RPF, the KYKL and the NRFM.

Over the course of the ongoing conflict in Manipur, there has been a resurgence in the activities of insurgent groups in the state and with it, extortion demands directed at citizens. Complains have come in from business owners, politicians, government employees, offices and even pharmacies and schools.