Sunurok ambush: Injured Imphal man dies at RIMS, death toll rises to four

The number of people killed in the October 19 ambush on civilian firewood collectors in the Sunurok hills of Manipur has risen to four, after one of the injured men died at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal on Saturday.

He has been identified as Sorokhaibam Ibomcha, 58, of Nongsum Mayai Leikai in Imphal East district. Ibomcha had been under treatment at RIMS for bullet wounds he suffered in the attack, according to NorthEast Now and Ukhrul Times. The hill, in the Kangpokpi district area close to Nongsum, is also referred to as Sunulok or Sanalok (Khongbal Tangkhul) in local reports.

What happened on October 19

A group of villagers from the foothill areas had gone up the hill to collect firewood when armed men opened fire on them. Three men were killed on the spot: Arubam Ronil, 35, Lairenlakpam Inaobi, 51, and Kshetrimayum Sushil, 32. Others, including Ibomcha, were wounded.

The attack has been blamed on cadres of the Nehlun faction of the Kuki National Front (KNF-N), a group that is part of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact with the Centre and the state. Manipur's home minister said last week that suspected KNF cadres were behind the ambush and that SoO ground rules had been violated.

Arrests and arms recovery

Manipur Police later arrested three suspected cadres, identified as Heminthang Khongsai, Lungunpao Kipgen and Seilal Haokip. Security officials have said two of them admitted during initial questioning that they were part of the team that carried out the attack, while the role of the third is still being examined.

Acting on their disclosures, joint forces recovered a cache that reportedly included an INSAS rifle, an AK-47, an M16 rifle, a sniper rifle, explosives and improvised rocket launchers, the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) said.

Operations were then extended to the Sinai designated camp, an SoO site in Kangpokpi, where 17 people were detained after their identities did not match official lists of cadres. Officials also reported discrepancies in the ammunition held at the camp and ordered a detailed inventory check. In a separate search in the Sangaiyupam area of Cherapur, police checked about 146 houses, verified more than 300 people, arrested two suspects and seized a double-barrel shotgun. Director General of Police Mukesh Singh has carried out aerial and ground surveillance of the operations.

A killing that fed a wider protest

The Sunurok killings set off protests and a shutdown in the Imphal valley. Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh visited the victims' families on October 26, after which the joint action committee called off its total shutdown.

The ambush has also become one of the grievances behind the demand to scrap the SoO agreement with Kuki-Zo armed groups, which thousands of Meitei and Naga protesters raised at a mass rally in Imphal on Saturday.

The authorities have appealed to residents not to share unverified information on social media while security operations continue.