CoTU pauses Kangpokpi shutdown for 7 days, warns it may resume

The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) on Friday, November 6, suspended its total shutdown in Manipur's Kangpokpi district for seven days, saying it wanted to give the state government time to act on its charter of demands over the killing of two youths from Taphou Kuki village.

The committee warned that if the government did not take what it called concrete and decisive steps within that period, it would revoke the pause, restart the shutdown and intensify its agitation. India Today NE quoted CoTU as saying the relaxation should not be read as a climbdown.

What CoTU said

Eastern Mirror reported that the shutdown, first called for 48 hours, had been extended from 5 pm on November 2 and then kept going until 5 pm on November 6. Hindustan Times said protesters have disrupted National Highway 2, the Imphal-Dimapur route that passes through the Kangpokpi district headquarters, since 5 pm on October 29.

During the seven-day pause, CoTU said it would hold sit-ins at several places in the district. It also said it would not accept the bodies of the two youths, which remain at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) morgue in Imphal after post-mortems, until its demands are met.

The Economic Times reported that the government had already met some of the demands and assured CoTU it would take up the rest. CoTU's own statement, as carried by Hindustan Times and India Today NE, did not list which demands, if any, had been met and framed the pause as a test of whether the government would act.

The two youths

The two men, named by Hindustan Times and Eastern Mirror as Paoginlal Hangshing and Tinginlun Chongloi, went missing on October 28. Reports differ slightly on their ages, giving them as 20 and 21. Hindustan Times said they were reportedly abducted by unidentified people at about 5.30 pm while travelling. Eastern Mirror said they went missing near 9 MR, between Hengbung and Taphou Kuki village.

Their bodies were found on November 1 during a joint search east of NH-2, along the Senapati-Phaibung Road, by teams that included Manipur Police, the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), the Central Reserve Police Force, Assam Rifles and the Rapid Action Force, Hindustan Times reported.

Police and security operations

Manipur Police Headquarters said on Friday that cases linked to recent arson and the killing of civilians were under investigation, that efforts were on to identify those involved, and that witnesses were being traced and questioned.

Joint teams of the state police, CoBRA, the CRPF, the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles and the Army were carrying out cordon-and-search operations and intelligence-based operations in the affected areas, the police said. "Necessary action is also being taken up with the National Investigation Agency," the statement added.

The police asked people to stay calm, not take the law into their own hands, and not circulate unverified claims or provocative posts on social media.

NEInsider earlier reported the recovery of the bodies and the repeated extensions of the Kangpokpi shutdown. This story will be updated if the government announces steps within the seven-day window, or if CoTU resumes the shutdown.