It was like a sonic boom. I had gone inside the house seconds before it happened. When I ran back out, I found the priest lying there, covered in blood. Splinters were everywhere, and my sister was injured, too,” recounted M. Kelvin Singh, great-grandson of Manipur’s first elected chief minister and Indian National Army freedom fighter Mairembam Koireng Singh.
On September 6, a rocket launched from the Kuki-dominated hills of Churachandpur struck the Meitei town of Moirang in Bishnupur district. The attack resulted in the death of a priest who was performing a ritual at the former chief minister’s residence, adjacent to the INA Museum. The rocket struck a wall, causing it to collapse, and the resulting splinters caused damage to nearby areas. The priest was fatally injured by one of these splinters.
The attack signalled a dangerous new chapter in Manipur’s ethnic strife. In the earlier phases of the conflict, most casualties occurred during gunfights on the fringes. But, the latest wave of violence has seen a sharp increase in civilian deaths and injuries to minors, signalling a grave humanitarian crisis. With the use of improvised rockets, armed drones and heavy weaponry, even those living 5km to 10km from the conflict zones realise with chilling clarity that no one is safe any more. In response, paramilitary forces and the Indian Army have expanded their dominance deeper into fringe areas, bracing for the threat posed by longer range weapons.
Just days before the rocket attack in Moirang, on September 1, terror struck Meitei-dominated Koutruk village in Imphal West. Over 40 bombs were reportedly dropped from drones that flew in from the Kuki-dominated hills of Kangpokpi. The bombing was accompanied by a deadly sniper attack. Two lives were lost, including that of a woman.
Eleven-year-old Ngangbam Rojiya witnessed her mother Surbala Devi’s death―a sniper’s bullet tore through the wall and hit her head. Rojiya’s right hand was injured, but the trauma has left deeper scars. “My daughter still shivers when she recalls the incident,” said Ngangbam Ingo, her father and a member of the village defence force linked with the Manipur Police. “She can still hear the echoes of bombs and gunfire.” For their safety, Rojiya and her older brother, Mahesh, have been relocated to their father’s village of Phayeng, about 5km from the scene of the tragedy. Koutruk lay in ruins, with many shattered homes. This was the first time the warring communities have used drones in an attack.
Kuki Civil Society Organisations vehemently deny drone bombings (it is alleged that Kukis repurposed commercial drones), and even former director general of the Assam Rifles, Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair (retd), supports this view. Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson for the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, the frontal body for Kukis, says that their drones are small and used only for surveillance. (The Army and the CRPF have faced trouble in using their anti-drone system. A senior officer noted that in the narrow valleys of the region, the system can interfere with air traffic control.)
Kuki leaders do acknowledge the fighting on September 1, saying it was in retaliation to armed Meitei groups trying to take control of the forest road between Kangpokpi and Churachandpur. This road is the only link connecting the areas now, as the main route through Imphal Valley has been inaccessible to Kuki-Zo communities since the start of the ethnic conflict.
No one from the Kuki community is denying the development of home-made rockets.
Endless loss: Ngangbam Ingo and his children, Rojiya and Mahesh, in front of a photo of his wife Surbala Devi, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet | Javed Parvesh
The community, known for its weapons like the Pompi gun―a bamboo tube covered with buffalo skin, which was used against the British―have adapted them into modern grenade launchers with longer range.
“Meitei militant groups, valley-based insurgent factions, and Arambai Tenggol have access to sophisticated weapons, many of which are taken from state armouries. We have no choice but to innovate, drawing on our indigenous knowledge, to defend our ancestral land,” said Kaiminlen Sitlhou, spokesperson for the Committee on Tribal Unity. From a secret location in Sadar Hills overlooking the Imphal Valley, Sitlhou demonstrated to THE WEEK the working of a third-generation Pompi.
“To counter the Meitei threat, we developed an improved version of the Pompi last December, and we made further enhancements by March,” said Sitlhou. The latest iterations are crafted from thick steel from earth movers and old Shaktiman trucks. These Pompis function almost like advanced fireworks, with gunpowder packed in the base and the grenades loaded at the front. According to Sitlhou, the new Pompi can launch a grenade up to 10km-15km.
While security agencies assert these weapons are not military-grade, their impact has been devastating. The operation of such weaponry is also highly hazardous. “The risk is significant―it can kill the person who triggers it if it explodes prematurely,” said Sitlhou. The locally made grenades vary in size from 10cm to more than 20cm.
Security forces suspect that Kuki groups were helped by the Chin of Myanmar, who are fighting the military junta, in developing rockets. It is also believed that valley-based insurgent groups, active in the current conflict, possess sophisticated weapons, including those sourced from China. Among the arms recovered were M16, M18, and M4A1 carbines, which are not in the state police armoury and, therefore, not obtained via the loot from local arsenals during the initial days of riot.
Over the past year, there has been numerous reports of stolen water pipes and electric posts, with security agencies saying these materials could have been used to make weapons. A recent rocket attack in Moirang underscores this disturbing trend. Four crude rockets, each targeting different locations in the town, were repurposed pipes. They were propelled by gunpowder and had casings embedded with metal splinters and cycle bearings to increase lethality. The pipes were equipped with four fins for in-flight stability and had nitrogenous explosives in their warheads. As per a report filed at the Moirang Police Station, one of these rockets weighed 23.8kg. All four rockets travelled over five kilometres before impact.
Following the rocket and drone attacks, many have fled to safer areas. Yet, for poor farmers in the old fringe regions, where gunfire and assaults are routine, escape is not an option. In Bishnupur’s Oaksubam village, 70-year-old Konjenbam Matun labours on his small plot of land at the foothills, cultivating tomato, cauliflower, cucumber and other vegetables. “The Kuki hills are just 2km away,” he says, gesturing towards the green, steep slopes beyond his field and a vast paddy expanse. “I have no choice but to continue farming to survive. Whenever there’s a shoot-out, I have to run. Even my mud house offers no real protection.”
Public agitation surged after rocket attacks and alleged drone strikes. Students took to the streets of Imphal, demanding an end to conflict. They burned in effigy Union Home Minister Amit Shah and called for unified command (a coordination committee of police, Army and Central forces) to be led by Chief Minister Biren Singh, who is viewed by many as a staunch advocate for Meitei interests.
Meanwhile, the police are concerned about the use of lethal weapons by students in Imphal. Authorities believe that miscreants infiltrated the protests, using students as human shields. Manipur Deputy Inspector General (Range 1) N. Herojit Singh said that protesters were armed with automatic firearms. An officer was injured and the bulletproof vehicles of superintendents of police were damaged in gunfire.
In response to rising tensions, the government imposed a curfew and an internet ban. While the internet ban has since been lifted, a partial curfew remains in place.
After 16 months of ethnic conflict, life in both the valley and the hills remains grim. Students are forced to guard their villages with heavy weapons, neglecting studies. The cost of essential goods has skyrocketed and many are out of work. Thousands of internally displaced individuals are living in deteriorating conditions. With militant groups on both sides taking up arms, law and order has completely broken down, and Manipur is effectively controlled by these armed groups.
Given the range of weapons at their disposal now, any further escalation could spell disaster. Meanwhile, the Manipur Police have obtained MK2A1 medium machine guns and are being trained by the Army. The tension is intense, and the threat of more violence hangs heavily over an already devastated landscape.