Meitei man married to Kuki-Zo woman shot dead in Manipur, video captures killing – and a chilling message

Churachandpur Superintendent of Police Gaurav Dogra confirmed that the incident captured in the video took place around 7-7.30 pm on Wednesday, and identified the man as Mayanglambam Rishikanta, who originally hailed from Kakching Khunou in Manipur’s Meitei-majority valley. The SP said that the incident took place at a village called Natjang, located a few kilometres away from Tuibong, where the deceased had been living with his wife, Chingnu Haokip. The place of occurrence is a 30-minute drive from Churachandpur town, where the Kuki-Zos are in the majority.

“We got in touch with his wife and found that he had been staying at the village for the past month. The locals, including the village authorities, were aware. He does not normally live in Manipur; he works and lives in Nepal. Then yesterday, some armed miscreants arrived at the village and abducted them and killed him. We have not been able to pinpoint those responsible yet, and no one has taken responsibility either. The investigation is ongoing,” said the SP.

According to a security official in Churachandpur, they have learnt that two individuals abducted the couple and took them in an SUV to a spot where there were two more people, all of them masked. Haokip was pushed out of the vehicle around a kilometre before the site at which the killing took place. The body was retrieved and taken to the morgue at the district hospital, and is expected to be handed over to his family in Kakching later on Thursday. The official also stated that multiple parties of the police, Army, CRPF and Assam Rifles conducted combing operations in the area on Thursday.

Another police official said that the deceased had arrived at Churachandpur on December 19 and had been staying with Haokip ever since.

The ripples of the incident were felt in the Meitei-majority valley, where a Joint Action Committee was formed by locals. It demanded that the case be handed over to the NIA and warned that they will launch an agitation if the culprits are not apprehended within three days.

This killing comes during a period of relative calm in Manipur. President’s Rule in the state will complete one year on February 14, and there are ongoing discussions and efforts to build consensus on the formation of a popular government in the state.

A meeting last week was attended by representatives of Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that are signatories to the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreements, MLAs from the community, and a civil society organisation called the Kuki-Zo Council. A resolution was passed setting conditions for the formation of a new popular government in the state. It included a written “political commitment” by the state and central governments on a separate Union Territory for Kuki-Zo-majority areas of the state, and finalising a settlement before the expiration of the regular tenure of the current Legislative Assembly, which ends in 2027. One of the major SoO groups, the Kuki National Organisation, issued a statement on Thursday stating they were not involved in the incident, saying that “under no circumstances is any spouse of our people from any other community ever subjected to such activity”.