​6 kidnapped Nagas found dead in Manipur

Guwahati: Security forces on Wednesday found the bodies of six Nagas abducted by armed Kuki groups in Manipur at an undisclosed location near a village in Kangpokpi district on Wednesday, rekindling ethnic tensions that had subsided a day earlier with the release of 14 Kuki hostages in Naga captivity.There was no official statement till late evening regarding the condition of the bodies. The United Naga Council (UNC), the community’s largest forum in Manipur, responded to the call for a 24-hour strike in Naga-inhabited areas from 6 am on Thursday and said it would not collect the bodies until the central and state governments ensure justice.The UNC’s demands include revocation of the Suspension of Operations (SOO) agreement with Kuki terrorist groups, arrest and prosecution of those allegedly involved in kidnappings and killings, and notification to declare the Kuki organization KNF-P as a terrorist organization.The bodies of Kenpibou Chawang, Manu Thiamai, Phenrongwibo Thiamai, Dilip Thiamai, Kaliwangbau Abonmai and Ch. The Fenrilungs, all from Konsakhul Naga village of Kangpokpi, were found in the same district after a 24-hour search by a 450-strong joint team including police, CRPF and Assam Rifles. The first two were priests.As tempers flared, a security convoy took the bodies to Imphal’s Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences for post-mortem.The genesis of the hostage crisis was the killing of three pastors of the Thadau Baptist Association in an ambush on 13 May, which Kuki groups blamed on armed Naga organisations. In retaliation, a Chiru Naga civilian was shot dead in Noni district and several Naga villagers were abducted in Kangpokpi. Naga groups then abducted more than two dozen Kuki villagers in Senapati.Both sides freed 14 hostages each on May 15, but Naga groups continued to hold 14 Kuki villagers hostage and insisted on the release of six who they said were still Kukis.Kuki’s deputy CM Nemcha Kipgen termed the “unlawful killing” of six Naga hostages as “a heinous act of violence” that had sent Manipur into shock. The statement coincides with the UNC’s demand for his removal from the BJP-led government.