Imphal: The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body,and the Liangmai Naga Indigenous Forum (LNIF) have condemned the thrashing of a Naga leader allegedly by Kuki militants in Manipur.
Manu Z Hotngambou, a Naga leader and former chairman of Rianglong village, was allegedly thrashed by the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) at Chalwa Village on Tuesday (September 5) for refusing to fulfill their demands.
The KRA is a Kuki insurgent group that is currently under the Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the central government.
The UNC and LNIF have demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice and that the authorities take action to prevent such incidents from happening again. They have also appealed to the KRA to stop their extortion activities and to live peacefully with the Naga people.
According to the UNC, Hotngambou was driving his Bolero pickup towards Imphal when he was stopped by the KRA militants.
They demanded a certain amount of money, but he refused to pay. The militants then thrashed him, leaving him unconscious and bleeding, UNC said.
Hotngambou later proceeded towards Kangpokpi for Imphal, where he was stopped by another group of KRA militants. They again allegedly demanded money, and he negotiated with them to pay Rs 2,000.
The UNC and LNIF have expressed serious concern over the incident and have called for an end to the alleged extortion activities of the KRA.