Four members of a Meitei insurgent group that signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre and the Manipur government in November 2023 sustained injuries in an attack by a group of 15-20 suspected members of the Arambai Tenggol (AT), police said in a post on X on Sunday.
The incident unfolded on Saturday, with reports indicating that both sides exchanged fire. The suspected AT members targeted the residence of Irengbam Nandakumar Singh alias Tonsana, a 56-year-old functionary of the United National Liberation Front (Pambei) or UNLF (P). A fight broke out at his house, resulting in blunt injuries to four UNLF (P) cadres. “Immediately, teams of security forces rushed to the spot. The four UNLF (P) cadres were detained and taken to hospital for treatment. They are reported to be free from any danger and have only blunt injuries (not gunshot), they are stable,”
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="168px" width="299px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="1080px" width="1920px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Security forces subsequently raided the premises of AT Unit-17 under Porompat police station in Imphal East district. The raid uncovered incriminating material, including approximately 15 grams of a substance suspected to be heroin and an INSAS assault rifle bayonet.
An AT delegation met Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on February 25 to discuss measures for restoring peace in the border state. During the meeting, the delegation sought assurance that there would be no attacks on civilians following the surrender of firearms, stating that “the central forces and the police would fill any security gap, which otherwise may force civilians to arm themselves again.”
The violence in Manipur dates back to May 2023 when the valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki—dominant in some hill areas—clashed over issues including land rights and political representation. Kuki civil society groups have alleged that the AT launched attacks on their villages along inter-district borders after the initial wave of clashes, which compelled the Kuki tribes to form village defence forces. Additionally, many AT members have been implicated in cases involving police armoury lootings.
In response to the growing conflict, the AT maintains that it was forced to take up arms as “village volunteers” due to ineffective law enforcement, claiming that the lack of policing allowed Kuki militants to attack Meitei villages in the foothills.
The police confirmed the involvement of insurgents from both communities during a gunfight in Jiribam district, neighbouring Assam, in September 2024. Furthermore, banned Meitei militant groups such as the PLA, KYKL, and KCP—which had largely faded from Manipur for the last decade—have resurfaced from Myanmar after May 2023 as the junta’s control weakened in regions where remaining militants were based.
While the UNLF (P) remains the only Meitei insurgent group to sign a ceasefire with the Centre and the state government, nearly two dozen insurgent groups from the Kuki and Zomi tribes operate under the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF). These groups signed a controversial suspension of operations agreement, which requires them to stay at designated camps with their weapons kept in locked storage and monitored regularly. Many of these groups face allegations of participating in the ongoing violence.
The conflict in Manipur has claimed over 250 lives and displaced nearly 50,000 people, further deepening the crisis in the region.
