Imphal: The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has called a 24-hour total shutdown along National Highway-2 (Imphal-Dimapur Road) to protest escalating violence against Manipur’s Kuki-Zo villages.
The strike will begin at 5:00 AM on September 1 and conclude at 5:00 AM on September 2.
The decision follows a deadly Monday morning ambush on Teikhang village along the IT Road corridor. The attack left three civilians dead, four critically injured and several residential houses destroyed by fire.
In a press communiqué issued on August 31, CoTU attributed the violence to the NSCN-IM and ZUF, citing the Teikhang incident as the immediate trigger for the highway blockade.
Essential services will remain unaffected. CoTU confirmed that educational institutions, medical and fire services, banks and the electricity department are exempted from the purview of the shutdown.
To protest the killings, CoTU staged a massive protest rally from Nute Kailhang to the ADC Office on Monday. Protesters submitted a memorandum to Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, highlighting severe security risks and acute shortages of essential goods in Taphou Kuki and surrounding villages.
Also read: Manipur: Two killed as suspected NSCN-IM, ZUF-K cadres attack Kangpokpi village
The memorandum alleges that armed factions linked to NSCN-IM and ZUF-K, operating through local Naga communities in Chawangkaning, Thonglang, Maki and Taphou Naga along National Highway-2, have blocked the transit of food, medicine and daily necessities to Kuki-Zo habitations since mid-May 2026.
The memorandum outlines critical interventions required to ease tensions and restore normalcy.
These include removing restrictive checkpoints at Thonglang, Chawangkaning and Taphou Naga; ensuring safe passage for ambulances and medical staff heading to the Tujang Vaichong Primary Health Centre; stationing central security forces in vulnerable fringe areas, including Chalwa, S. Songpibung and Thenjang; upgrading police stations in Chalwa, Leimakhong and Kangchup to full operational capacity; and resolving a boundary dispute regarding Senapati district police exercising authority inside Kangpokpi revenue zones, including Taphou Kuki and Hengbung villages.
This latest demonstration follows persistent highway disruptions and retaliatory blockades sparked by casualties on both the Naga and Kuki sides since the ethnic conflict began.
Monday’s incident marks a severe escalation in the volatile IT Road corridor, which has seen repeated bloodshed in recent weeks. On August 27, an alleged ambush claimed the lives of four Naga civilians, following an August 14 attack on Langka village that killed two Liangmai Naga civilians.
Demanding immediate state intervention, CoTU stated that the shutdown aims to draw urgent national attention to the deteriorating security situation in the region.