With folded hands, 28‑year‑old Mayanglambam Rishikanta Singh kept begging for his life. Moments later, insurgents used an AK series assault rifle and shot him point blank.
The insurgents have released a video of the killing of the Meitei man, with the text overlay on it: "no peace, no popular government".
The video has no sound. It is night at what appears to be a clearing on a hillside. The man is on his knees with his hands folded. The darkness is punctured by the muzzle flash of the assault rifle as they shot him.
The incident happened in Manipur's Churachandpur district, 65 km from the state capital Imphal. His wife, C Haokip, is from the Kuki community.
Singh, a resident of Kakching Khunou in the valley, worked in Nepal and had returned home on leave. His wife took permission from the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and its Tuibong district headquarters to allow Singh to see her for a few days, sources have said.
The KNO denied giving any such permission.
"It is hereby categorically clarified that neither did the organisation have any knowledge of the visit of Mayanglambam nor was it involved in the incident. The organisation further clarifies that under no circumstances is any spouse of our people from any other community ever subjected to such activity," the KNO, an umbrella body of Kuki insurgent groups under the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, said in a statement this morning.
The United Kuki National Army (UKNA), which is not part of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, has also denied any involvement, local sources said.
The SoO agreement broadly says the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and weapons are to be kept in locked storage.
The insurgents' objective seems to be to provoke the public on ethnic lines and start another round of violence, especially at a time when government formation talks are going on, sources said. Manipur will complete one year under the President's Rule in February.
The police said they found the body in a village in Churachandpur district and brought it to a local hospital at 1.30 am.
Kukis and Meiteis have not gone into each other's areas after ethnic violence broke out in May 2023.
