Manipur Government Making Efforts to Ease Tension Amid Hostage Crisis, Says Chief Minister

PTI, May 19, 2026, Imphal : Manipur Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh on Tuesday said that the state government is making all efforts to subdue the tense situation arising out of the abduction of several persons in the hill districts of the state, an official statement said.

Singh made the remark during a meeting with a delegation of the Liangmai Naga groups, which urged him to rescue six men from the community who had allegedly been abducted.

More than 38 people were abducted and held hostage by armed groups in Kangpokpi and Senapati districts on May 13, hours after three church leaders were shot dead in an ambush in Kangpokpi.

Thirty-one of them have already been released, officials said, adding that there have been claims that several others are still in captivity.

“The Liangmai Naga Council and the Liangmai Naga Women Union called on Singh at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and demanded immediate release of six missing men, including a pastor, who were abducted by unknown armed men on May 13 from Kangpokpi district,” the statement read.

A Liangmai community leader told the Chief Minister that even if the six men from Konsakhul village are dead, their bodies should be handed over to their families for last rites, it said.

The tribal leaders also demanded that police forces be deployed in vulnerable Liangmai villages in Kangpokpi district.

Singh informed the delegation that police and CRPF personnel are conducting combing operations in suspected areas to trace the six missing men, it said.

Appealing for calm, the Chief Minister said, “The state government is making all-out efforts to subdue the tense situation and bring peace in the areas.”

He appealed to all communities to shun violence and help restore normalcy.

Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki tribes in the state, however, claimed that 14 people from the community continued to be held hostage.

Manipur has witnessed the killing of at least 260 people and the displacement of thousands in violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities since May 2023.