NIA arrests first accused in January 2024 Manipur killing

New Delhi [India], June 9 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the first accused in connection with the gruesome killing of four civilians that took place in January this year in Manipur's Bishnupur district.
Lunminsei Kipgen alias Langinmang alias Mang alias Levi, a resident of Manipur, was arrested on Saturday by the NIA from Central Jail at Lokhra in Assam's Guwahati under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act.

"Lunminsei Kipgen is the first accused to be arrested for the gruesome killings that had taken place on 18th January 2024, when armed miscreants had brutally murdered four civilians near the water treatment plant located Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou, Bishnupur. The assailants had opened indiscriminate fire from sophisticated weapons, leading to the tragic death of the civilians on the fateful afternoon," said the NIA.

NIA, which had registered the case (RC-01/2024/NIA/IMP) on February 9 this year, found during the investigation that Kipgen was actively involved in the fatal attack, which was part of the ongoing ethnic unrest and violence in the north-eastern state of Manipur.
Previously a cadre of the Kuki militant outfit KNF (P), the agency said, Kipgen had joined another Kuki militant organisation, United Kuki National Army (UKNA), during the current spate of violence and had participated in the ghastly killings.