UKHRUL: The Chingdai Area Core Committee (CACCO) organised a sit-in protest on Tuesday demanding the Manipur government and security forces to disclose the whereabouts and ensure the safety of three individuals apprehended by a combined team of Manipur Police, CRPF and CoBRA on October 20, 2026, over their alleged links to the Nongshum terror attack a day earlier.
In a statement, CACCO said the families of the three individuals were yet to receive information about their whereabouts, alleging that the investigating officer (IO) was not cooperating with them. The committee also objected to what it described as a biased investigation and the branding of the apprehended individuals as criminals.
The three individuals have been identified as Seilal Haokip alias Alal, son of Holthang Haokip and a resident of L. Chajang village; Lungunpao Kipgen alias Gugun, son of late Demsat Kipgen and a resident of C. Zoulen village; and Hemminthang Khongsai alias Minthang, son of Ginlenlal Khongsai and a resident of L. Chajang village.
According to CACCO, Haokip is a prominent civil society leader who has been working towards the resettlement of the Chingdai area. The committee said he was displaced after his village was allegedly burned and his property destroyed on May 31, 2023.
It credited his leadership as chairman of CACCO with helping residents return to their villages, while alleging that the resettled population had received no government assistance in the form of food, clothing, healthcare, security or electricity.
The committee said the other two apprehended individuals were also internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose homes were allegedly destroyed during the violence on May 31, 2023. It maintained that the three individuals had no intention of killing people, destroying property or encroaching on others’ land, and were instead working to protect their villages and facilitate the resettlement process.
“Branding IDPs as criminals due to the Meitei-Kuki conflict is looking down upon all IDPs,” the committee said, urging the government to uphold the dignity of individuals irrespective of their community.
CACCO alleged that the Chingdai area was destroyed on May 31, 2023, by Meitei mobs, armed groups and Arambai Tenggol. It said residents had undertaken resettlement efforts on their own, without government assistance, under the leadership of the committee.
The apprehension of the three individuals, particularly those involved in the resettlement process, has now become a major obstacle to the programme, CACCO claimed.
The committee further expressed concern over the government’s commitment to resettlement and peaceful coexistence with neighbouring communities, alleging that repeated appeals for security protection since the outbreak of the conflict in May 2023 had gone unheeded.
It also raised concerns over the deployment of security personnel at Chingdai Khullen, stating that forces assigned to protect resettled residents were unable to remain at their posts during the night, when the population was most vulnerable to attacks.
According to CACCO, the lack of electricity was cited as a reason for the security personnel’s inability to remain overnight.
The committee said residents had endured the absence of electricity since 2023 and had approached the Deputy Commissioner and other concerned authorities seeking restoration of power, but the matter remained unresolved.
“If the Government is serious about the people of Chingdai area, it must restore electricity, safeguard the people, and ensure that there is no fear and discomfort,” the committee said.
It also questioned whether residents should fear the government or their perceived enemies, in view of the continuing security concerns.
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CACCO has called for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts and safety of the three apprehended individuals, along with their immediate and unconditional release, asserting that they were innocent and were themselves IDPs.
The committee also demanded the immediate restoration of electricity at Chingdai Khullen and the deployment of security forces during the night to protect resettled villagers.
It further urged authorities to stop what it described as the criminalisation of innocent IDPs and resettled villagers, stating that the dignity and safety of displaced people must be protected regardless of their community.
