Four Tangkhul Naga civilians were shot dead in a suspected sniper attack on NH-202 in Manipur’s Ukhrul district on Friday afternoon, prompting Manipur Police to send additional forces and launch search operations along the highway.
The victims were travelling in two vehicles near New Heaven, on the Imphal-Ukhrul route, before they reached Litan to join a government-provided security escort. Police said the attackers were “unknown armed miscreants” and that all four victims died at the spot after sustaining fatal bullet injuries.
The deceased were identified as Kapangkhui Raihing and her son Haoleila Raihing of Shangshak village, and siblings August Ngalung and Khanmila Ngalung of Tashar village. The attack took place along a stretch where civilian movement is already linked to security arrangements because of heightened risks on the route.
Travel between Imphal and Ukhrul requires civilians to join security convoys through a 20-km sensitive stretch between Mahadev and Litan. The New Heaven location was also the site of an earlier attack on April 18, when two Tangkhul Naga civilians were killed in an ambush. The recurrence has placed renewed attention on the safety of a key road connecting Manipur’s capital with Ukhrul, the heartland of the Tangkhul Naga community.
Manipur Police said additional personnel from the state police, Border Security Force, Army and Assam Rifles had been rushed to the area. “Search operations have been launched in and around the area of the incident to trace and apprehend those involved,” the police said.
The killings followed a separate incident a day earlier in which a 42-year-old Kuki woman was shot dead and two men were injured during a gunfight between rival groups near Taphou Kuki village in Kangpokpi and Kailengjang in neighbouring Senapati district. The sequence has intensified demands for accountability from political representatives and community organisations.
The Indigenous People’s Forum, Manipur, alleged that the highway attack was part of a continuing campaign against indigenous people and sought an impartial investigation, including scrutiny of possible security-force collusion or negligence. The Kuki Civil Society Organisations Working Committee, Ukhrul, condemned the killings but denied Kuki-Zo involvement. It opposed collective blame and demanded a time-bound investigation, equal security for all communities, and examination of security-escort arrangements and possible links to the wider conflict involving NSCN factions.
The incident also came as a 48-hour shutdown in Kangpokpi affected markets, businesses and public transport. Educational institutions and emergency services were exempted. Congress legislature party chief Keisham Meghachandra condemned the killings of both Kuki and Naga civilians and questioned government accountability, saying five people had been killed in 24 hours.
Figures cited in the report say the Naga-Kuki conflict since February has claimed 71 lives—38 from the Kuki community and 33 Nagas. Separately, more than 300 people from the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities were reported killed, 49 missing and more than 60,000 displaced in the wider conflict between 2023 and 2025. Police search operations around New Heaven were continuing after the attack.
