Kangpokpi police officer questioned in kidnapping and killing of six Naga men in Manipur

People carry a coffin containing the body of one of the six Naga men found dead in Manipur on June 11, 2026. | Photo credit: Reuters

Police personnel from Kangpokpi in Manipur have been questioned by police authorities in connection with the abduction and killing of six Naga men whose mutilated bodies were found by police on June 10, 2026, a senior government official told The Hindu.

A police official was recently questioned by the Kangpokpi police following indications that he may have played a role in the kidnapping of six Naga men, including two pastors, on May 13 from Leilon Vaiphei village, shortly after the killing of three Thadou-Kuki church leaders in the area on the same day.

“The investigation is on; the exact role of the police personnel in this crime is yet to be ascertained. The Naga women, who were held hostage and later released, have mentioned the police officer in their statement to the police,” the official said.

Following public outrage over the killings, the state government handed over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has so far made no arrests.

Six men and their family members were taken hostage and 12 people, including women and children, were later released. At least 44 civilians were reportedly taken hostage by Kuki and Naga groups in Kangpokpi and Senapati districts on 13 May. While several of the abductees were released earlier, 14 members of the Kuki community who remained captive were released on 9 June and the bodies of the six missing Naga men were recovered on 10 June by security forces.

On Saturday (July 4, 2026), Union Home Minister Amit Shah took stock of the security situation in Manipur, where he said he had ordered security agencies and the NIA to crack down on suspected and armed militants from the Naga, Kuki and Meitei groups. The minister expressed concern over the slow pace of investigation into recent and past cases of violence, including those between the Naga and Kuki communities, and called for the arrest of all suspects involved in the crimes. He is said to have emphasized breaking up the narcotics trade in the region.

Following the 2022 drug ban in Afghanistan imposed by the Taliban, Myanmar has become an alternative source of global opium supply, and the effects are already being seen along India’s eastern borders through the Manipur corridor, the Narcotics Control Bureau said in its 2025 annual report.

While Chief Minister Y. Khemchand Singh joined virtually from Imphal, Manipur Government Security Adviser Kuldiep, Director General of Police Mukesh Singh and Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Abhijit S. Pendharkar, among others, attended the meeting in Delhi.

The ethnic violence that first erupted between the Kuki and Meitei communities on May 3, 2023 has now spread to the Kuki and Naga communities and has claimed 300 lives so far. At least 40 people have been killed since February 4 after President’s rule was lifted in the state and an elected government was restored.

Due to Kangpokpi’s location—surrounded by the Naga-dominated Senapati district in the north and the Meitei-dominated valley districts in the south—transportation of essential goods on National Highway 2 was severely affected, with Naga village volunteers imposing a blockade on goods entering from Nagaland and Assam.

Security agencies are ensuring the delivery of essential items to Kangpokpi and six people from the Naga community were recently arrested for blocking vehicles heading towards the Kuki-dominated district, the official said.

Published – 5 Jul 2026 23:17 IST