Sunday night in Manipur was not one story. It was three. A musical programme in Thoubal ended with a young man dead. An IED went off near a police station in Imphal West. And armed militants opened fire on villagers in Imphal East. By Monday afternoon, the latest Manipur violence had left 4 people dead and 3 CRPF jawans fighting for their lives at a hospital in Imphal, and the state’s security machinery was scrambling to catch up.
A musical night that turned lethal
The first incident unfolded at Khangabok Pali Bazar in Thoubal district, around 11:20 pm on Sunday. A musical programme linked to a local football match was on at Khangabok-III, Cherapur Leikai, near Sangaiyumpham, when unidentified persons allegedly threw stones. A brawl broke out between Meitei and Muslim youths, officials told India Today, and in the chaos pellets fired from a double-barrel gun by unidentified men struck 24-year-old Thokchom Rakesh. He was rushed to Raj Medicity but succumbed to his injuries around 12:40 am on Monday. Several others were injured.
Additional forces moved fast. The Rapid Action Force, CRPF, Assam Rifles and Manipur Police personnel were deployed, and the situation was brought under control around 1:50 am, ADGP Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo told the media. But the district administration was not taking chances. Thoubal district magistrate Yumnam Robita issued prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, restricting the movement of people in the revenue villages of Sangaiyumpham and Khangabok from 11 pm on October 18 until further orders. On Monday, residents of Khangabok blocked the road demanding the gunman be handed over.
Two more attacks before sunrise
While Thoubal was still burning, the second attack came at 11:41 pm. An improvised explosive device exploded at Kakwa Lamdaibung Lampak, near the Singjamei police station in Imphal West. Three CRPF personnel sustained serious injuries and were admitted to Raj Medicity. Police have not yet established a motive.
The third incident struck on Monday. Unidentified armed militants fired on Meitei villagers near Khongbal in Imphal East, killing three people who were out collecting firewood, according to agency reports. The ADGP said investigators were pursuing leads in the Thoubal case and expressed confidence that those responsible would be brought to justice, asking residents to report anything suspicious to the nearest police station.
A chief minister’s review, a police appeal
Chief Minister Khemchand Yumnam chaired a security review at the Cabinet Hall of the state secretariat in Babupara on Monday, with Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam beside him, ANI reported. In a post on X, the chief minister condemned the killing of “innocent civilians by armed miscreants” at Nongshum in Imphal East and said he had directed officials to strengthen security in vulnerable areas of the state. Manipur Police urged the public to stay calm and avoid spreading unverified information, a request that reads less like routine advice and more like an acknowledgement of how quickly rumours move in the valley after a night like this.
Here is the thing the wire reports will not quite say out loud. Three incidents, three different perpetrators, one 14-hour window. A communal clash, an attack on security forces, and a militant ambush on civilians, all in the same night. That is what makes this Manipur violence episode harder to contain than a single flashpoint. It gives every community a grievance to nurse and the security forces three investigations to run at once.
It has also been a brutal festival week for the country. On Saturday evening, 19 people were killed in a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata. Hours later, a truck ploughed through a festival crowd near Gwalior’s Shitla Mata Temple, killing 12. Now four more deaths in Manipur, with three jawans in hospital. The prohibitory orders in Thoubal have no expiry date. They stand until further orders. Whether the extra forces now in Khangabok and Singjamei can hold the peace through the festival week is the question Manipur will be answering, day by day.