4 min readNew DelhiApr 9, 2026 06:13 AM IST
The rocket-propelled shell that killed two children in Tronglaobi Awang Leikai village in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Tuesday morning appears to have been fired from just about 100 metres from their residence, The Indian Express has learnt, with security sources indicating that this points to the involvement of “local elements” in the explosion. The village is situated along the sensitive boundary between the Meitei-dominated valley and Kuki-Zomi-dominated hills. The victims are from the Meitei community.
Police are learnt to have recovered a live shell and launcher from the edge of the village, the spot from where the first shell was fired. Examination of the launcher and shell has revealed that while the launcher is country-made, the shell is military grade, sources said. This points to either a valley- or a hill-based militia or militant group providing the ammunition and using a local element to fire it, they said.
The early-morning attack killed a four-year-old boy and his newborn sister who were asleep. The children’s mother, Oinam Binita, was critically injured and is under treatment at a nearby hospital. The incident was followed by a mob attacking a CRPF camp nearby and retaliatory fire by forces. The toll from the incident rose to three on Wednesday as a 31-year-old man succumbed to bullet injuries, at RIMS, Imphal, The Imphal valley is currently under curfew.
“Preliminary investigation suggests the involvement of local elements. The shell has not been fired from the hills but from close to the village,” a security establishment officer said.
A day after curfew was imposed in Imphal on Wednesday. (PTI)
Some residents of a nearby village are also being questioned, sources said.
“The shell recovered is military-grade. Such ammunition is available with both valley- and hill-based militant groups. Some private militia, too, have acquired them following looting of police armouries in the early weeks of Manipur violence in 2023. Any of these groups could have supplied it to a local mercenary and got him to carry out the attack,” an officer said.
The motive, officials said, appears to be destabilisation of the newly formed government under Y Khemchand Singh. “The Khemchand government has successfully reached across the aisle and is talking to all communities. This has built a semblance of confidence in the state government among all sections. There are political factions in the valley opposed to his government. Then there are elements in the hills, such as the United Kuki National Army (UKNA), which are not aligned with key Kuki militant organisations that have entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government,” a senior officer said.
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In a statement, the UKNA on Wednesday denied any involvement in the attack, saying it does not target innocent civilians, particularly children.
On Wednesday night, Manipur police said three cadres, suspected to be from the UKNA, were arrested and an AK-47, a pistol with ammunition, and cash were seized.
“The case has been handed over to NIA,” a Home Ministry official said. The CM has said a massive operation is underway to nab those behind the attack and that security forces have been instructed to “hunt them down dead or alive”.
—With inputs from ENS Guwahati
