Imphal/Guwahati
A fragile period of relative calm in Manipur was violently shattered in the early hours of Tuesday, when a projectile attack and a suspected sexual assault claimed the lives of three children in separate, harrowing incidents.
The state has since descended into a state of high alert, with authorities suspending mobile internet services in five districts—Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching, and Bishnupur—to prevent the spread of inflammatory content. Later on, the State government imposed an indefinite curfew across the five valley districts with immediate effect.
Moirang Attack
At approximately 1:00 AM, suspected militants operating from the Kuki-Zo dominated hill areas launched a bomb attack on a civilian residence in Moirang Tronglaobi Awang Leikai. The explosive struck the bedroom of a family while they slept, instantly killing a five-year-old boy and his six-month-old sister. Their mother sustained serious injuries in the blast and is currently undergoing treatment.
Local residents reported that the projectiles appeared to have been fired from elevated positions in the Churachandpur district, located more than three kilometres away. The village of Tronglaobi, situated in a peripheral belt, has long been a flashpoint for cross-border firing. Following the strike, a second unexploded device was recovered by security forces in a nearby area on Tuesday morning.
Horror At Relief Camp
Compounding the State’s grief, a seven-year-old girl—whose family had been internally displaced from Moreh—was found dead under suspicious circumstances near the Akhampat relief camp. The child had been reported missing on the evening of April 6. Preliminary reports suggest the minor may have been sexually assaulted before being murdered. While a post-mortem is pending, police have already detained one suspect, a resident of the same relief camp, for questioning.
The twin tragedies sparked immediate and violent protests. In Bishnupur, enraged mobs torched two oil tankers and a truck near a petrol pump, while others burnt tyres outside the Moirang Police Station and dismantled a makeshift police outpost. A large crowd also attempted to storm a CRPF camp near the foothills of P Gelmol.
Chief Minister Y. Khemchand Singh, who chaired a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation, issued a scathing condemnation of the Moirang attack. “This is a barbaric act and an outright assault on humanity,” he stated. “Let there be no doubt, those responsible will be identified, hunted down, and dealt with firmly under the law. Such acts of terror will not be tolerated under any circumstances.”
Local NPP MLA Th. Shanti Singh termed the strike as an act of “narco-terrorism.”
Since the ethnic conflict erupted in May 2023, more than 260 people have been killed. Security forces have now intensified surveillance along the hill-valley boundaries as peripheral villages continue to live under the shadow of long-range projectile attacks.
