CM assures NIA probe, ex-gratia

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Mar 12: Chief Minister Y Khemchand has assured that the case of abduction and murder of two individuals at Ukhrul on March 11, 2026 will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)  and ex-gratia will be provided to the families of the victims.
Responding to a call attention motion raised by CLP leader K Megha-chandra in the State Assembly today, the Chief Minister stated that the incident that took place at Ukhrul yesterday had the potential to spark a major issue but all efforts were made in association with Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen to prevent the incident from snowballing into a major issue.
He also lauded the contributions of Nemcha Kipgen in containing the situation.
Informing that he held a meeting with all the Naga MLAs till past 10 pm yesterday and deliberated on solving yesterday’s incident, Khemchand said that the Central Government has taken a very serious note of the particular incident.
The abduction of civilians including women and children could have sparked a very big issue. As such, all stakeholders put in concerted efforts and managed to secure the release of the hostages, he said.
It seemed that the 36 communities living together in Manipur often forgot that ‘We all are Manipuris’.
Meiteis who earlier identified themselves as Manipuris have started identifying themselves as Meiteis. Kukis and Nagas have been identifying themselves as Kuki and Naga respectively rather than Manipur, the Chief Minister remarked.
“We must not forget that all of us are Manipuris and Manipur is our common homeland”, he added.
While the abducted passengers were released, two other individuals abducted by unknown persons were found dead. This is a matter of grave concern, he said.
The killing of the two individuals will be handed over to the NIA and the State Government will provide ex-gratia to the bereaved families, the Chief Minister said.
Responding to the call attention raised by K Meghachandra on the exchange of fire at Thawai village, Ukhrul district and abduction of civilians from Imphal-Ukhrul road, Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam pointed out that Manipur was once a peaceful State where all the communities lived together in harmony.
He asserted that violence will not bring any solution.
All the conflicts and issues that existed among the communities were resolved on the table through dialogue and negotiation, Govindas said.
Raising the call attention motion, Meghachandra asked if the Government has taken up any measures to ease the rising tension between Kuki and Tangkhul communities over the past one month or so.
Citing media reports that the hijacking of a passenger vehicle along with a number of passengers took place in an area where Central security forces were present, the CLP leader expressed surprise over the hijacking of the passenger vehicle not far away from Litan police station.
He went to ask if the Government has taken up any policy measures to bridge the trust deficit among the different communities of the State.