'Kuki Militants Took Tactical Positions Along Route': Manipur Police On Ambush

The ambush on a highway in Manipur's Ukhrul district yesterday that killed a truck driver from West Bengal and left a policeman injured was carried out by "armed Kuki militants who had taken tactical positions along the route," the Manipur Police said in a statement today.

The ambush and the subsequent gunfight between the security forces and the insurgents happened on a stretch of National Highway 202 that has seen tension between the Naga and Kuki tribes in recent weeks.

A joint team of the state police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) had been providing security escort to trucks of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), including those carrying cooking gas, the statement said.

The convoy, while going from Yaingangpokpi towards Ukhrul district, "came under heavy attack at Roudei (TM Kasom) village from Patleijang hill area by armed Kuki militants who had taken tactical positions along the route," the police said in the statement posted on X.

"During the attack, an FCI truck driver, Nitish Kumar (57) of Hooghly district, West Bengal, sustained critical gunshot injuries and succumbed on the spot. A police personnel of Litan-PS also sustained bullet injury," the police said, adding the security forces have launched search and area domination operations in the area.

On 29.05.2026, a combined security force comprising Manipur Police, CRPF, BSF and RAF while escorting a convoy of stranded FCI trucks and LPG/IOCL tankers from Yaingangpokpi towards Ukhrul came under heavy attack at Roudei (TM Kasom) village from Patleijang hill area by armed...

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) May 29, 2026

Members of truck drivers' associations have strongly condemned the ambush. They said they have been carrying supplies to every nook and corner in the state even amid the crisis.

In a separate incident yesterday, five people from the Kuki tribes were injured in tear-gas firing by the security forces, as they tried to clear roadblocks for movement of trucks carrying essentials from the state capital Imphal in central Manipur's valley area to the Naga-dominant hill district in the east, 80 km away. There are many villages of other communities and tribes including Kuki between the two districts.

Members of the Kuki tribe had blocked a part of the Imphal-Ukhrul road to demand the safe return of 14 missing people from their community. Six men of the Naga tribes are also missing and the community has been holding protests demanding they should be freed.

Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh in a statement yesterday condemned the attack and offered condolences to the family of the truck driver.

"Ambushing goods vehicles and taking the life of a driver, who plays a crucial role in ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential items across the state, is one of the most cowardly acts and intends to further aggravate the tense situation prevailing in the area," the chief minister said.

The Kuki-Naga conflict between 1993 and 1998 killed 750 people and sporadic incidents continued for a decade, according to government data presented to parliament in April 2025.

The 2023 Kuki-Meitei violence has claimed over 260 lives.