Imphal: Nine Naga legislators in Manipur abstained from the final sitting of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly’s eighth session on Monday, protesting the Home Minister’s clarification on the Leilon Vaiphei killings and demanding the immediate removal or suspension of Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen pending a full investigation.
The protest cut across party lines, with the lawmakers rejecting the Home Minister’s statement that cleared certain individuals of involvement while the official inquiry is underway. They alleged that Kipgen’s husband is the prime accused in the May 13, 2026 incident, in which six Naga civilians were killed following the abduction of 18 people from Leilon Vaiphei.
Speaking at a press conference at the official quarters of Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho in Lamphel, Naga People’s Front (NPF) Manipur unit president Awangbou Newmai criticised the government over what he described as a four-month delay in delivering justice.
Newmai said the legislators could not accept the Home Minister’s clarification in the Assembly that police personnel and the Leilon Vaiphei village chief were not involved in the incident. He pointed to eyewitness accounts from abductees who were later released, saying they contradicted the government’s position.
He also said individuals named in the First Information Report (FIR), including the village chief, remain at large. Newmai further claimed that the victims’ bodies showed signs of mutilation.
Dikho said the boycott was not a rebellion against the state leadership but a demand for accountability over the killings.
He said the Naga community had remained restrained during the broader Manipur crisis and referred to earlier humanitarian gestures, including the release of Kuki detainees, which he said had previously received praise from the Union Home Minister.
Both Newmai and Dikho said the Naga community’s patience had been exhausted by the lack of progress in the investigation.