Manipur violence: Why protesters clashed with police amid march to CM's residence

PTI, April 25, 2026, Imphal : Thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Manipur and clashed with police forces en route to Chief Minister N Biren Singh's residence.

The agitators, organised under the aegis of the Meitei organisation COCOMI (Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity), demanded permanent peace in the northeastern state torn by ethnic conflict.

However, a group of agitators were later allowed to meet with the CM and handed over a memorandum demanding long-term peace.

Still, additional security forces and barricades have been deployed at all four routes leading to the CM’s residence in the Babupara area. This includes Keisampat junction, Kangla Gate, Konung Mamang and Moirangkhom in the heart of Imphal, officials said.

At Khurai Lamlong in the Imphal East district — about 2 km from the CM's bungalow — security forces also fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the protesters that tried to break through the barricades.

The COCOMI protesters raised placards and chanted slogans demanding justice for two children killed in an April 7 bomb blast in Tronglaobi.

They have also urged the state government to rehabilitate those internally displaced by the ethnic conflict, which has affected the state since May 2023.

The protest march comes just a day after tensions flared up in the Naga-dominated region of Ukhrul, which saw at least three killed in a gunfight between the Naga and Kuki tribes.

Specifically, the gunfight took place at the Mullam and Shongphal Kuki villages, which have seen a number of instances of violence since the Nagas were drawn into the Meitei-Kuki clashes earlier this year.

At least 17 houses have been burnt, in addition to a number of people injured.

While the violence in Manipur, which began in May 2023, was primarily between the Meitei and Kuki tribes, the Naga tribe, which had been a neutral spectator in the conflict since 2023, was drawn into the conflict earlier this year, when it felt its territorial neutrality was being violated.

A key trigger behind this was the kidnapping of 20 Naga civilians by suspected Kuki militants in the Shangkai village of the Ukhrul district. Though they were later returned, such incidents fuelled outrage that escalated tensions.

The situation intensified after a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper was killed in April this year by a stray bullet during a gunfight between Naga villagers and Kuki-Zo militants in the Litan area.

The deaths of two Tangkhul Naga civilians, including a retired Indian Army soldier, in an ambush at T.M. Kasom earlier this month further aggravated the situation in the region.