Kuki woman killed in ‘crossfire' in Manipur chose to stay back even at peak of conflict, says niece

The Print

22-06-2025

A farmer and wife of the village chief Khaikhogin Haokip, she was found dead in a forested area approximately 500 metres from the village, and about 50 metres from the road, a senior district police officer told ThePrint.
On Thursday, Haokip was shot in 'crossfire' between security forces and 'unknown armed miscreants'. The incident took place in Langchingmanbi village, near the buffer zone dividing areas dominated by the Kuki-Zo community from areas dominated by Meiteis.
New Delhi: Having witnessed extreme violence through 2023 and 2024, Hoikholhing Haokip finally felt safe in her village in Churachandpur, after President's Rule was imposed in strife-torn Manipur in February this year.
'Even when the conflict was at its peak in 2023, and most villagers had fled since the village was on the frontline, she was adamant about staying,' recalled her niece Gracie, as she mourned her death. 'My uncle always told us—our forefathers gave us this land, and even if we die, we will die in our own house.'
The incident has fuelled a fresh wave of tensions in the region. According to police, Haokip was killed in crossfire amid a search operation after a Meitei man in a village in Bishnupur district was injured earlier that day, when some 'unidentified assailants' opened fire.
Ningthoujam Biren Singh, a cultivator from Phubala Awang Maning Leikai, was shot in the left arm around 3 pm while working in his paddy field, Manipur Police posted on X. He was taken to the district hospital, and later referred to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal, about 30 km away. His condition is reported to be stable.
'In response, the security forces launched a search operation in and around Langchingmanbi, Heichanglok, and the western areas of Phubala village. During the course of the operation, security forces came under fire from unknown armed miscreants and the forces retaliated accordingly,' Manipur Police wrote on X. 'During the crossfire, a woman from Langchingmanbi village was found dead with a bullet injury.'
Incident Report: Shooting at Phubala and Subsequent Exchange of Fire
Today, at approximately 3:00 PM, one Ningthoujam Biren Singh, a cultivator from Phubala Awang Maning Leikai, was shot in his left arm by an unknown armed miscreant while working in his paddy field at Phubala…
— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 19, 2025
Local police arranged to transport the body to Churachandpur District Hospital for necessary legal formalities. According to a document shared by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (JKLI) battalion admitted to its role in the act that led to the death of Haokip. Following this admission, the JKLI agreed to resolve the matter under customary law and offered Rs 11 lakh as compensation to her family. Gracie, her niece, confirmed that the arrangement has been made.
After Haokip's death, ITLF—comprising tribal organisations like Kuki Inpi, Paite Tribe Council, Simte Tribe Council, Vaiphei People's Council, Mizo People's Convention, and others—submitted a memorandum to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla Friday, urging immediate action over the killing. It said that the incident was a direct result of the violation of the buffer zone demarcated between Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities.
It stressed the urgent need to uphold the sanctity of these zones until a mutually agreed-upon Memorandum of Understanding or a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is in place. 'We urge the government to take firm and proactive measures to prevent future breaches and to ensure that such loss of innocent lives does not recur,' the memorandum read.
According to the senior district police officer quoted above, the incident did not occur inside the designated buffer zone, but around four-five km away. The area is close to both Langchingmanbi, a Kuki-dominated village, and Phubala, which has a Meitei majority.
'Even then, the distance between the buffer zone and the place where the incident took place is more than a kilometre,' the officer clarified.
The officer added that there had been a longstanding dispute over farming in the area. The assailants were believed to have come from deeper in the hills. 'They are not locals and do not appear to be connected to the communities farming in the immediate vicinity.'
A video clip of a man, who was with the Meitei man shot in the paddy field, being heavily circulated, shows him describing the incident. 'They came down, crossed the high canal, and opened fire. The firing happened so close we could see their faces,' he can be heard saying. 'I had to roll over and lie flat. If I had been standing, I wouldn't be alive.'
The Kuki civil society organisations then called for the indefinite shutdown in hill areas in protest.
'Mrs Hoikholhing fell victim to the ongoing campaign of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing directed against the Kuki minority. Her assassination is a chilling reminder of the deliberate and relentless violence that has engulfed our people, abetted by the inaction and at times, complicity of the state apparatus,' read the joint press release by the organisations.
The shutdown ended Saturday.
The 'shutdown' which was imposed earlier in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts passed off without any untoward incidents and normalcy has been restored in the districts.
— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 21, 2025
Five days ago, there was a similar flare-up in the Pukhao Leitanpokpi area of Manipur's Imphal East district, following a clash between members of the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities over an alleged farmland dispute.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: 'Manipur shows double-engine sarkar has failed. Kuki-Meitei don't trust govt' says GK Pillai