The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), a Kuki-Zo civil body, extended the ongoing total shutdown across Manipur’s Kangpokpi district by another 48 hours following the recovery of the bodies of t wo missing Kuki individuals on Sunday .
Police initially attempted to bring them to the Kangpokpi district hospital. Later that night, amid escalating tensions, the bodies were taken to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal under tight security and kept in the hospital’s mortuary. Because of the government’s failure to act decisively, the committee alleged that the two were killed.
A statement issued by CoTU on Monday said the shutdown was extended to protest the government’s failure to rescue the two. Tension erupted in Kangpokpi district on Sunday following the recovery of the two bodies.
On Sunday, CoTU spokesperson Ng. Lun Kipgen issued a five-point charter of demands. These included the removal of deputy chief minister Losii Dikho, a Naga legislator, from his post; immediate rectification of police jurisdiction by transferring Taphou Kuki village from Senapati police jurisdiction to Kangpokpi; removal of the NSCN-IM’s Huthrong Brigade from its Oklong camp in Senapati district; handing over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA); and immediate arrest of those involved in the abduction and killing.
