Ram Muivah demands NH-202 security after New Heaven ambush

IMPHAL – Ukhrul MLA Ram Muivah has asked Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh to provide NH-202 security on the Mahadev–New Haven stretch and to order combing operations in four villages, a day after four civilians were killed in an ambush near New Heaven in Ukhrul district. In a letter dated November 14, 2026, seen by Nagaland.News, he wrote: “Enough is enough.”

The letter, numbered D.O. No/CM-HOM/Ukl/2026/53/179, was copied to Home Minister K. Govindas Singh and Director General of Police Mukesh Singh. Muivah, a Naga People’s Front legislator and retired IAS officer, signs as a member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly and chairman of its Committee on Estimates.

Ram Muivah’s letter on the New Heaven ambush

Muivah described the November 13 attack as an “ambush on innocent civilians” near New Haven (Shokvao) on the Imphal–Ukhrul road, as the letter spells the place. Nagaland.News has used the spelling New Heaven in its earlier reports on the ambush. The four dead were a mother and son from Shangshak village and two siblings from Tashar village.

“This tragic incident is not an isolated occurrence,” Muivah wrote. He said repeated attacks between Litan and New Haven had created “an atmosphere of extreme fear, insecurity, and vulnerability among commuters”, and that the lack of adequate security had left travellers “exposed to grave danger”. He added that he had written to the Chief Minister on the matter several times before and enclosed a copy of that correspondence.

In the letter, Muivah said the Mahadev–New Haven section, “a short stretch of less than 15 Km”, had “suffered repeated ambush by Kuki terrorists with impunity” and that nine lives had been “gunned down in as many months”. These are his claims. Police have described the attackers in Friday’s ambush only as suspected militants, and no group has claimed responsibility.

Three demands for NH-202 security and policing

Muivah asked the Chief Minister to treat the matter “as most urgent” and take three steps:

1. Advise the DGP to carry out combing operations at Yaolen, Mongkot Chepu, Shangkai and Lamlai Chingphei and arrest “those suspected terrorists who are not native of these 4 villages”.
2. Provide foolproof security on the Mahadev–New Haven sector of NH-202.
3. Advise the DGP to send back police and Manipur Rifles (MR) personnel who are posted in Ukhrul but deployed elsewhere.

Citing reports, the letter says more than 100 Ukhrul police personnel and over 800 MR personnel from Ukhrul are being used outside the district, which he called “a grave concern”. Muivah said they should return “to strengthen local law enforcement, highway patrolling and protection of the people” so that “no more lives are lost in this kind of attack”. Nagaland.News could not independently verify the deployment figures.

Pressure grows over NH-202 security after the ambush

Muivah’s letter adds to demands from Tangkhul Naga bodies. The Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) issued a three-day ultimatum seeking the removal of what it called “Kuki terrorists” from Naga areas and a National Investigation Agency probe. The TNL and the Tangkhul Naga Foothills Organisation said the attack took place a few hundred metres from a Border Security Force post, NorthEast Now reported.

The Kuki CSO Working Committee, Ukhrul, has denied any Kuki-Zo role in the New Heaven ambush and called for an impartial investigation, warning against collective blame. Police have not officially named the attackers.

This is not the first time Muivah has spoken out over NH-202 security. After two civilians were killed near T.M. Kasom on the same highway on April 18, he called that ambush “shocking, appalling, and inhuman” and urged a swift investigation, Imphal Times reported. The state government had not responded publicly to his latest letter at the time of writing.