Manipur Police on Tuesday arrested two people associated with the militant outfit Kuki Revolutionary Army (U) in connection with the missing of two teenagers on November 5 from Imphal West district. According to the officials, the two KRA(U) cadres were identified as Lhunkhosei Chongei and Satgougin Hangsing and they have been arrested following an intensive investigation in the reported case of abduction. Police also suspect the two boys may have been killed by the militant outfit.

“In connection with the missing case of 02(two) boys on 05.11.2023, Manipur Police and security forces arrested two cadres of KRA(U) who are highly suspected to be involved in committing the crime. The arrested persons have been remanded into police custody for further interrogation. Combing operations are being carried out to apprehend the other culprits,” the police said.

Both the boys Anthony alias Temba (19) and M Avinash alias Khaba(16) left their home to attend a meeting on Sunday morning 15 km north of Imphal in Awang Sekmai. The police remand papers say both of them were last seen in Gamgiphai village in Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi village after which their phones were switched off and they went missing. Police said they suspect the two might have been abducted as they neared the Kuki village.

Several cases of abduction and suspected killings have been emerging from the strife-torn northeastern state since the ethnic clash between two major communities – Kuki and Meitei – errupted on May 3. On Tuesday, four people including three relatives of a serving army soldier, were abducted allegedly by Meitei militants in Imphal West district.

Earlier, a 17-year-old girl and 20-year-old man, both Meiteis, went missing in July and remained untraced even as security agencies looked for them and locals took to the streets seeking their whereabouts. Later, photos of their decapitated bodies were increasingly shared on social media after the state lifted a long-standing ban on mobile internet.

At least 178 people have been killed and 50,000 displaced in Manipur since May 3, when ethnic violence erupted between dominant Meitei and tribal Kuki communities in the northeastern state.