Kuki Inpi accuses Manipur Police of bias in firing statements

IMPHAL – Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki tribes, has accused Manipur Police of ethnic bias in the way it described two shootings in the state’s hills this week. It says the police left the killers of a Kuki woman unnamed but labelled the gunmen in an attack on a Tangkhul Naga farmer as Kuki.

In a statement issued on Friday, November 13, the organisation gave the police 72 hours to explain the difference and start corrective action, The Sentinel and NorthEast Now reported. Manipur Police had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of writing.

What Kuki Inpi says the police statements said

The complaint concerns two police statements issued on November 12. The first dealt with the death of Kimneineng Chongloi, 40, who was shot while harvesting paddy near Taphou Kuki village on the Kangpokpi–Senapati border. According to Kuki Inpi, the police called it a “firing incident” and said nothing about who fired.

The second statement, which the organisation says came minutes later, concerned a Tangkhul Naga civilian hit by a bullet in Ukhrul district. In that case, Kuki Inpi says, the police described the attackers as “suspected Kuki armed miscreants”.

The body questioned the contrast in sharp terms. It asked whether the woman had been trading fire with her attackers or “fired bullets using her sickle”, a reference to reports that she was found holding one. It also asked what evidence the police had for naming the community of the gunmen in Ukhrul, whether anyone had been identified or arrested, and whether investigators had confirmed that the shots came from the “Lungter Hills”.

Nagaland.News has not seen the full text of the two police statements. The wording above is as quoted in Kuki Inpi’s statement and the reports carrying it.

Kuki Inpi’s demands and 72-hour deadline

“This is not the first time Manipur Police has done this,” the statement said. Kuki Inpi alleged that since ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023, the force has repeatedly cast Kukis as aggressors while playing down attacks on them. It argued that a constitutional institution cannot assign ethnic labels to suspects selectively, and linked the issue to Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.

The organisation has asked for:

• an immediate internal inquiry to identify the personnel who drafted, approved and circulated the two statements;
• a public explanation for the different wording, and disclosure of the evidence used to identify the Ukhrul attackers as Kuki;
• disciplinary action against anyone found responsible for discriminatory reporting; and
• an assurance from the Director General of Police that future police communications will be uniform, impartial and based on evidence.

If the police do not respond within 72 hours, Kuki Inpi said it may seek legal and constitutional remedies, including suspending cooperation with Manipur Police in Kuki-inhabited areas.

The two shootings at the centre of the dispute

Early reports on the Taphou Kuki killing differed on the woman’s name, the number of injured and who fired. The Assam Tribune, citing a police report, named her as Kimneineng Chongloi and said two men from the village, Sehngam (David) Chongloi and Lamkhochon Chongloi, were wounded. Other outlets described the shooting as an exchange of fire between rival armed groups. Deccan Chronicle quoted the police as saying that an investigation had begun and that “suspects are being questioned”.

The Ukhrul victim has been identified by NorthEast Now as Newton Mahung, 45, a farmer from Sinakeithei village under Litan police station. He was shot in the right shoulder while harvesting paddy and taken to the district hospital in Ukhrul. NorthEast Now dated the attack to about 3 pm on Wednesday, November 11, while EastMojo reported firing on Sinakeithei farmers at about the same hour on Thursday.

Villagers told NorthEast Now that the shots came from the Lungter hill range and questioned why a nearby Border Security Force post did not act sooner. Sinakeithei has faced firing from the same range before. In March, gunfire forced villagers indoors during Sunday worship, Nagaland Post reported.

Rising tension in Manipur’s Kuki and Naga areas

The row comes amid repeated violence in Manipur’s hill districts. On Friday, four people were killed when suspected militants fired on two vehicles near New Heaven on the Imphal–Ukhrul road. Police have not said who carried out that attack.

Taphou Kuki was already tense before Thursday’s shooting. Two young men from the village went missing on October 28 and were found dead on November 1, and the Committee on Tribal Unity has been holding a sit-in at Kangpokpi demanding that the area be brought under Kangpokpi district police. Manipur Police have earlier appealed for calm after killings and arson in the region, and Nagaland.News has also reported on a gunfight near Taodaijang in Noney district.

Nagaland.News will update this story if Manipur Police respond to Kuki Inpi’s allegations.