Manipur: Mob attacks Assam Rifles camp after operation against suspected armed Naga cadres

A mob attacked an Assam Rifles camp in Manipur’s Senapati district on Tuesday night after security forces launched an operation against suspected armed cadres earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defence said.

The mob allegedly threw stones, damaged property and set vehicles on fire. No injuries were reported.

The Assam Rifles had launched a patrol and search operation near Makuilongdi based on intelligence inputs about the presence of cadres of the armed Naga group, NSCN(I-M), outside designated camps, the ministry said.

The NSCN(I-M), or the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, has been under a ceasefire agreement with the Union government since 1997. The group refers to itself as the National Socialist Council of Nagalim.

On Tuesday, intelligence reports and social media posts indicated that armed cadres of the group were moving outside designated camps while carrying weapons and wearing uniforms, in violation of the ceasefire agreement, the ministry claimed. The matter was also reported to the Ceasefire Monitoring Group, it said.

The Assam Rifles said that as its personnel approached Makuilongdi and Oklong villages during the operation, they were obstructed by residents, including women. The force claimed that its personnel exercised “maximum restraint” and informed local representatives that the operation was aimed at maintaining security and that they would not enter any village without the consent of the authorities.

The ministry said that despite the withdrawal of the security columns, a mob reached the Assam Rifles camp at around 9.30 pm, and attacked it.

Security personnel, along with the Manipur Police and the Central Reserve Police Force, used tear gas grenades and fired blank rounds to disperse the crowd, the statement added.

One Assam Rifles vehicle was set on fire, two trucks were overturned and damaged, and a civilian car was also reportedly burnt. The situation was brought under control by midnight, the ministry said.

Three detained in Ukhrul

Three persons were detained on Tuesday in connection with the July 6 gunfight near Ukhrul town in Manipur in which two Assam Rifles personnel were killed, the Manipur Police said.

Ukhrul is a Tangkhul Naga-majority district.

However, the Tangkhul Naga Long, the apex body of the Tangkhul Naga community, claimed that four persons had been detained during the operation.

It demanded their release, alleging that those detained were “innocent villagers”.

This came against the backdrop of tensions between Kukis and Nagas in Ukhrul that had erupted on February 7 after an alleged assault involving members of the Tangkhul Naga and the Kuki-Zo communities escalated into clashes. At least 25 persons from the two communities have been killed since tensions erupted.

Ethnic clashes had first broken out in Manipur in May 2023 between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities. At least 260 persons have been killed and more than 59,000 persons displaced since then in the conflict.

Biren Singh had stepped down as the chief minister in February 2025 amid allegations from Kuki-Zomi-Hmar groups that his response to the violence had been partisan and that he had stoked majoritarianism.

After he resigned, Manipur was under President’s Rule for a year until Yumnam Khemchand Singh took oath as chief minister on February 4.

Written by Sara Varghese. Inputs from Rokibuz Zaman. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.

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