A string of abductions of security personnel threatens fragile peace in strife-hit Manipur

Four Manipur police personnel, a Central Reserve Police Force jawan, a suspected drug dealer and five residents who refused to pay protection money to local militias are among at least 13 people who were allegedly abducted by militants and criminals from different parts of the strife-torn state between May 8 and 13, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

Security forces working on the ground believe that the real number of people abducted could be higher because in many cases, the families of the victims do not file police reports.Manipur Police have filed FIRs and arrested at least 10 people in the cases.

The string of alleged abductions is coming at a time when the situation on the ground in Manipur is largely with no killings or major incidents of gunfight in the last two weeks. The last killing in ethnic clashes was reported on April 28.

The yearlong ethnic violence in the state, which tipped over into large-scale anarchy and mob rule in some parts, claimed 225 lives with another 50,000 people displaced.

Security officials on the ground said there are multiple reasons, such as financial losses, unemployment, need for money to buy weapons or run operations, and abundance of arms and ammunition among civilian population, behind the rise in extortion and abduction cases.

Cases of police personnel and CRPF jawan were reported by local media, but not other cases.

Security forces working on the ground say that the alleged reports of abductions are a cause for alarm because probes into some of these cases show the alleged perpetrators are not just militants from banned outfits, but also drug dealers, civilians and those from radical Meitei group Arambai Tenggol.

The most-prominent case was that of four state policemen who were allegedly abducted and severely beaten while on their way to the headquarters in Kangpokpi on May 11.

“The four abducted policemen are neither Meities nor Kukis. They were returning after collecting some household articles from the abandoned house of a colleague(a Kuki cop), who had to flee his house during the ethnic clashes last year. The Kuki officer was unable to return home because of the ethnic divide. The Arambai Tenggol heard about this and abducted the four policemen from the road. They even took photographs of the torture and circulated the photos in their WhatsApp groups in the valley,” said an officer from a central security force, requesting anonymity.

The four in their statements said they were abducted by over two dozen armed people. Manipur police, in a statement on May 12, said two members of the Arambai Tenggol were arrested in the case.

The Arambai Tenggol group does not have a spokesperson. Its leader, Khuman, lives in the jungle and was contact through social media for comment.

Just two days before the four police personnel were abducted, a Kuki CRPF head constable, who accidentally crossed the buffer zone on his scooter at Shantipur and entered Meitei territory, was allegedly detained by Arambai Tenggol members.

“For almost six hours, Manipur police and security forces conducted searches. In the evening, civilians, whom the police had roped in, spoke to the Arambai Tenggol members and managed to free the Kuki CRPF officer, who too was assaulted in captivity,” the officer quoted above added.

On the afternoon of May 11, a joint team of Assam Rifles and Manipur police stopped a Maruti Wagon R car at a check point in Waithou area near Imphal. “While conducting the searches, we spotted a man carrying a country made pistol along with bullets. At the time same, a man inside the car shouted for help. The man had been abducted. He was rescued and the man was arrested,” a Manipur police officer said, requesting anonymity.

The forces have arrested six members of the proscribed outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party (PWG), for the alleged abduction of two men -- Irom Anand Singh and Nganggom Rohit Singh -- on May 11. The two are residents of Imphal.

Six KCP(PWG) members allegedly abducted the two victims from Imphal for failing to pay “protection money”, said a senior Manipur police officer.

Days before the alleged abduction, the militants also allegedly dropped live ammunition outside the house of the two men, said an Assam Rifles officer aware of the matter.

Security forces said militants are first calling victims over phone, dropping live ammunition or firing shots outside the house of targets, and then carrying out the abduction if the demand is not met. “There have been many cases of militants firing outside the house or throwing bullets to scare the victims,” the Assam Rifles officer added.

HT has accessed at least four FIRs reported in March and April in which shopkeepers said bullets were fired outside their homes or shops to scare them.

It isn’t just militants who are accused in these cases of alleged abduction, officials said. Police and security forces on May 12 rescued four men who were allegedly beaten and abducted by criminals in Bishnupur district.

“Our probe revealed that the four were taken at gunpoint because one of them had a relationship with a girl from a neighbouring village. While both the man and the woman were from the same community, some of the men from the girl’s side did not approve of the relationship and hence abducted the man and his three friends,” a second police officer said.

Explaining the reasons why abductions are happening, a senior security force officer said, “All these months, militant groups from both sides got money from the civilian population. The civilians gave money to armed groups to buy weapons, drones and stock for the village volunteers. With peace slowly returning, civilians are now not willingly giving the money. This is why extortion is on the rise.”

“Another reason is the fact that people have lost jobs, there is no tourism. Many cannot even go to the fields to farm because of the fear of being shot at by the other group. With no income, they are resorting to extortion. It has become a flourishing trade,” added the officer quoted above.

MANIPUR VIOLENCE BOILERPLATE

Since May 2023, Manipur has been roiled by ethnic violence between the majority Meitei community, and the tribal Kukis, with other communities increasingly sucked into the clashes over the last few months. At least 225 people have lost their lives, and another 50,000 have been displaced.

But far from any administrative salve to a now-fractured society, the fallout of the long running ethnic hostilities has meant that the Meiteis, who live largely in the plains of the Imphal valley, and the Kukis, who predominantly live in the hills, have withdrawn to their respective strongholds. In response, security forces have created buffer zones in different border districts, set up camps and posts on highways.