2 killed in fresh violence as tensions boil over in Manipur day after 6 abducted men’s bodies found
Bodies of 6 Naga men recovered on Wednesday were brought to Imphal in early hours of Thursday, leading to rising tempers, deployment of teargas by police in the state capital and burning of houses in a Kuki-Zo village
Security personnel stand guard at the entrance of at JNIMS mortuary after people gathered before the arrival of bodies, suspected to be of six persons of the Naga community who were abducted from Leilon Vaiphei village in Kangpokpi district on May 13, at the mortuary, in Imphal, Manipur, early Thursday, June 11, 2026. The bodies emerged a day after 14 Kuki individuals who were abducted by armed groups in Manipurs Senapati district nearly a month ago were released. (PTI Photo)
Two people were killed in a Kuki-Zo village near the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur on Thursday amid heightened tensions following the recovery of the bodies of six Naga men nearly a month after they had been abducted.
Tensions started rising in Manipur soon after police announced Wednesday evening that joint security forces had recovered six bodies of those “believed to be among” the men abducted on May 13.
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Search operations for the six men had been underway for the past four weeks. Their bodies were recovered a day after Naga groups released 14 Kuki men they had been holding hostage in Senapati district, demanding that the six men be located and handed over.
Once news spread that the bodies had been recovered and were being taken to the capital, Imphal, for post-mortem examination, large numbers of people began gathering at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal East, where the bodies were brought at around 2 am on Thursday.
As emotions and tempers rose among those gathered at the institute, which included family members and Naga civil society groups, security forces deployed there used teargas at around midnight.
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Later, in the early hours of Thursday, an attack on Kultuh, a small Kuki-Zo village located in Kanjong district, was reported. According to officials, the attack on the village, which is located close to the Indo-Myanmar border, started at around 4 am, and two people were killed, and at least six houses were burned. Kuki-Zo organisations identified the two deceased as Letminlun Haokip, the head deacon of Kultuh Church, and Lunminthang Haokip, a youth chairman of the church.
Security personnel stand guard at the entrance of at JNIMS mortuary after people gathered before the arrival of bodies, suspected to be of six persons of the Naga community who were abducted from Leilon Vaiphei village in Kangpokpi district on May 13, at the mortuary, in Imphal, Manipur, early Thursday, June 11, 2026. The bodies emerged a day after 14 Kuki individuals who were abducted by armed groups in Manipurs Senapati district nearly a month ago were released. (PTI Photo) 
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