The Union government has directed social media platforms to take down a video of a 29-year-old man being shot dead in Manipur’s Churachandpur district by unidentified assailants, reported The Hindu on Saturday.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued the takedown order on Thursday on the grounds that the video was “likely to disturb public order”, according to the newspaper. The order came after a request from the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Information Technology Act Section 69A.
Section 69A states that online content can be blocked on grounds such as national sovereignty, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign countries or public order.
The man, Mayanglambam Rishikant Singh, was a member of the Meitei community. He was shot dead on Wednesday at a village named Nathjan. For the past month, he had been staying in the Churachandpur district with his wife Chingnu Haokip, who belongs to the Kuki-Zo community.
A purported video of the killing, which surfaced on Wednesday night, showed the man sitting on the ground in the dark. He could be seen pleading with folded hands to persons not seen in the video, after which two shots were fired at him.
The video carried the text “No peace no popular government”, in a reference to attempts to restore an elected government in Manipur.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 2025, when Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister.
At least 260 persons have been killed and more than 59,000 persons displaced in the state since the ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities in May 2023. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024 and 2025.
After Mayanglambam Rishikant Singh’s killing, the state government had also moved the Manipur High Court seeking directions for social media platforms to take down the video of the incident.
On Thursday, the court issued notice to the Union Government in this regard and asked it to place on record information on the progress of removing the viral clips from all platforms by the next date of hearing, scheduled for February 18, reported PTI.
The video of Singh’s killing was initially shared on WhatsApp from an IP address based in Guwahati.
The Kuki National Organisation, an umbrella group of Kuki militant outfits, denied allegations that it had given Singh “permission to visit” the area. It claimed that it neither knew about his visit nor was it involved in the killing.
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