Normal life in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district was disrupted for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as markets and business establishments remained closed during a shutdown called by a tribal organisation to protest the alleged state government’s inaction over the killing of two Kuki youths. The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) is observing the shutdown to demand justice for the two civilians, whose mutilated bodies were found in a hilly stretch of adjoining Senapati district on Sunday morning after they had gone missing a few days earlier.
Police said several goods vehicles heading towards Imphal on a national highway could not enter Kangpokpi and were left stranded in neighbouring Senapati. Additional security forces were deployed in the district to prevent any unwanted incident, a senior officer said.
CoTU initially called a 24-hour shutdown in Kangpokpi from Sunday after the bodies were recovered, and extended it by 48 hours on Monday night. The Kuki organisation said the extension was to protest against the government’s “shameful indecision, unacceptable silence and continued failure to initiate any tangible action to deliver justice for the brutal and inhumane killing of two innocent Kuki Zo civilians”.
The tribal body also said the Kuki-Zo people would not accept “empty assurances and administrative excuses in place of justice” and demanded time-bound action against those responsible for the killings.
The shutdown underscored continuing tensions in Manipur, where the ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023 between the valley-based Meitei and hill-based Kuki communities has claimed at least 306 lives. Another 49 people remain missing, while thousands have been left homeless. In recent months, clashes between Kuki and Naga communities have also been reported.
Original Source: https://news.abplive.com/news/india/manipur-violence-kangpokpi-shutdown-kuki-youths-killing-protest-1874550
Category: India
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Publish Date: 2026-11-03 14:07:00
