Manipur CM to visit Naga relief camp and ensure tracing of six missing men

Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on Thursday 28 May 2026 met the displaced Naga villagers in Kangpokpi district. Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on Thursday (May 28, 2026) visited a relief camp where Nagas were displaced due to the ongoing ethnic conflict and assured them that the six Naga men missing since May 13 would be traced soon.

The relief camp at Makhen Baptist Church in Makhan Naga village is currently sheltering 35 Nagas from Konsakhul. Both villages are in the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district.

Kuki armed groups reportedly abducted several Naga men from Konsakhulu after unidentified gunmen killed three Thadou church leaders between Kotlen and Kotzim villages in Kangpokpi district on May 13. Elsewhere, Naga groups reportedly held Kuki villagers hostage.

An official statement said that among the IDPs the chief minister met at the rescue camp were women and children who were taken hostage but later released by armed miscreants.

“The government is taking the issue of hostages seriously and security forces are conducting search and combing operations to locate the hostages,” he said.

He also said four people suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of six Naga civilians, including two church leaders, had been arrested.

Nearby in Taphou Kuki village of Kangpokpi district, the families of 14 people allegedly abducted by Naga extremists stepped up their protests, demanding equal attention from the government to the hostage crisis they are facing.

Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kukis in the state, claimed that three of the abductees were minor students.

The affected families urged the Center and state governments to ensure the safe and unconditional release of their relatives, who have been missing since May 13.

Villagers said 25 residents were kidnapped while returning home from work near the Senapati-Kangpokpi border along National Highway 2. Eleven of them were released two days later in a hostage-for-hostage exchange.

Published – 28 May 2026 18:50 IST