Imphal: A mass sit-in was held at Imphal’s New Checkon Traffic Point on Monday, with demonstrators, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Sugunu, Moreh and Churachandpur, protesting the alleged release of arrested Kuki militants and demanding consistent enforcement of the law.
Organised by the New Checkon Bazar Nongpok Engkhol Meira Paibi Lup, the protest focused on the government’s handling of security and law enforcement, as well as the rehabilitation and return of displaced families to their ancestral homes.
Protesters held placards demanding the re-arrest of those released and equal enforcement of the law across the valley. They also cited unresolved incidents, including petrol bomb attacks on security vehicles and highway blockades.
Huidrom Malini, secretary of the organising group, accused the state and Central governments of institutional failure. She questioned what she described as selective detention of suspects and asked why significant action had not been taken over attacks targeting security forces.
Malini also criticised the administration for failing to facilitate the safe return of displaced residents to their ancestral homes.
The protest followed the release of seven Kuki villagers by the CRPF late Saturday night, September 20, 2026, after violent protests and roadblocks on National Highway-2 in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district.
CRPF personnel from the CoBRA unit had detained seven villagers, described locally as village volunteers, near Kholen/Kholep village and Chawangkining on September 19–20.
Following the detentions, mobs comprising women volunteers and local residents reportedly chased security vehicles, pelted them with stones, set tyres on fire and dug up sections of National Highway-2 near Motbung and Kangpokpi. Security forces used tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.
The seven individuals were subsequently released around midnight, after which the situation was brought under control.
The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex tribal body, condemned the detentions as “arbitrary arrests”, saying they had taken place amid heightened tensions following recent violence and casualties in the area.