India: KCP Returning To Hostilities In Manipur – Analysis
By SATP
By Afsara Shaheen
On July 20, 2024, a former cadre of the Kangleipak Communist Party-Military Council-Progressive (KCP-MC-P), Rajkumar Prithibi Singh (30), was killed on the Takhel Ngaram Road in Imphal East District. Singh, who was blindfolded with his hands bound behind his back, was executed at point-blank range. KCP-MCP claiming responsibility for the execution-style murder, alleged that Singh was involved in ‘espionage’ for the Security Forces (SFs).
On July 15, 2024, a civilian, Merangir Chiru (47), was abducted and subsequently killed by cadres of the KCP-People’s War Group (KCP-PWG) at Kangchup Chingkhong Village, located in the border area between Imphal West and Kangpokpi Districts. In order to arrest the culprits involved in the incident, Manipur Police later launched combing operations in Kangchup Chingkhong. During the operations, 11 Army-designed helmets, 10 camouflage pants, 18 camouflage shirts, four camouflage caps, 11 pairs of jungle boots, six bullet-proof covers, one KCP-PWG Demand Letter, a KCP-PWG letter head and other incriminating items were recovered.
On May 25, 2024, Chanam Chandrakumar (23), a civilian, was shot at and injured by suspected cadres of KCP–Nongdrenkhomba (KCP-N) in Bishnupur District.
According to partial data combined by South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), there have been two KCP (various factions)-related fatalities in Manipur in 2024, so far. There were no KCP-related fatalities between the period 2017-2023. In 2016, there were three KCP-related fatalities (two civilians and one terrorist). The highest number (49) of KCP-related fatalities (three civilians and 46 terrorists) were recorded in 2008. Since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data on conflicts in the region, there has been a total of 195 KCP-related fatalities [(21 civilians, 162 terrorists and 12 in the Not-Specified (NS) category), data till August 4, 2024].
Meanwhile, increased SF vigilance has resulted in the arrest of a significant number of KCP cadres in recent times. According to the SATP database, in the current year, there has been a total of 82 arrests of KCP cadres. 22 KCP cadres were arrested in 2023, while 10 were arrested in 2022. Some of the recent incidents of arrest include:
July 29, 2024: Manipur Police arrested two active cadres of KCP-PWG, Huiningshungbam Kenjen Singh (36) and Irom Mikoi Singh (47), from Imphal West District. They were involved in extortion activities from various educational institutes around the Imphal area.
July 27, 2024: SFs arrested a suspected KCP–Taibanganba (KCP-T) cadre, Heikrujam Somorjit Singh aka Ningthou (30), from Kakching District.
July 21, 2024: Manipur Police arrested two active cadres of KCP, Ayekpam Chingkhu Meitei (28) and Chandam Devajit Singh (19), from Meitram Mayai Leikai in Bishnupur District.
July 21, 2024: Manipur Police arrested one active cadre of KCP-PWG, Khoirom Ranjit Meitei aka Poirei aka Rocky (44), from Pangei Bazar in Imphal East District. He was involved in re-grouping and recruiting of new members of the outfit, arranging weapons for the newly recruited members and extortion activities.
July 21, 2024: Manipur Police arrested three active cadres of KCP-T, Soisenba Oinam (22) aka Ito, Lourembam Chingkheinganba (21) and Ningombam Jerit Singh (23), from Imphal. They were involved in extortion activities in and around the Imphal area.
The undivided KCP was formed on April 13, 1980, under the leadership of Y. Ibohanbi. The KCP is a purportedly Communist organization that takes its name from Manipur’s historical name, Kangleipak. However, the group is primarily interested in protecting Meitei culture and wants Manipur to secede from India. Y. Ibohanbi, the KCP’s founder, was killed in a SF operation in 1995. The current ‘chairman’ of KCP is Ibungo Ngangom.
After Y. Ibohanbi’s killing, the KCP split into several factions. The precise number of such formations to date is not available, the last official numbers were revealed on August 23, 2011, according to which there were 12 factions of the KCP. However, the names of 22 factions of KCP have emerged in open sources, so far. These included National Revolutionary Front Manipur faction of the KCP (KCP-NRFM), KCP-Noyon, KCP-PWG, KCP-MC-P, KCP–Lamyanba Khuman, KCP-Chingkheinganba, KCP-MC-Lallumba, KCP-Lamphel, KCP-Military Task Force-Kesho Meetei (KCP-MTF-Kesho Meetei), KCP-City Meitei, KCP-MC-T, KCP-Maoist, KCP–Khaba, KCP–KK Nganba, KCP–Kokkai, KCP–Poirei, KCP–Rocky Meetei, KCP–United Revolutionary Front (KCP-URF), KCP-Sunil Meitei, KCP-Lanheiba, KCP–Military Joint Committee, and KCP–Mangang.
Some of these groups have given up violence. On August 6, 2010, the KCP-MC-Lallumba faction lay down its arms. On February 13, 2013, six factions of KCP – KCP-Lanheiba, KCP-Chingkheinganba, KCP-Sunil Meitei, KCP-Lamphel, KCP-City Meitei and KCP-MC-T – signed a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) with the State Government, abandoning armed violence.
KCP along with six other Meitei organisations in Manipur were first banned on November 13, 2018. The November 13, 2018, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) notification reads, “It is necessary to declare the Meitei Extremist Organisations… along with all their factions, wings and front organisations as ‘unlawful associations’ with immediate effect.”
Significantly, the ban on these seven organisations was extended in a notification dated November 13, 2023, where the UMHA stated, that the Central Government was of the opinion that these Meitei Extremist Organisations have been:
- engaging in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India;
- employing and engaging in armed means to achieve their aforesaid objectives;
- attacking and killing the Security Forces, the Police and Civilians in Manipur;
- indulging in acts of intimidation, extortion and looting of civilian population for collection of funds for their Organisations;
- making contacts with sources abroad to influence public opinion and secure their assistance by way of arms and training for the purpose of achieving their secessionist objective;
- and maintaining camps in neighboring countries for the purpose of sanctuaries, training and clandestine procurement of arms and ammunition.
The notification concluded that the government had, consequently, decided to extend the ban on these Meitei groups along with all their factions, wings and front organisations, for a period of five years, with effect from the November 13, 2023.
On April 14, 2024, during the occasion of 44th anniversary of the outfit, KCP’s ‘Politburo Standing Committee’ ‘Chairman’ Ibungo Ngangom alleged that, in order to weaken the autonomy and rights of the Manipuri people, Indian authorities were using narco-terrorists as tools of destabilization. The 2023 Operation All Clear, which was approved by the Manipur Government and executed by the Army and Assam Rifles, caused the Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist groups to lose control over the Kangleipak highlands, but provided them an opportunity to start dominating the vast forest lands in the western, southern and south-eastern regions of Kangleipak, allegedly with the help of Indian armed forces. This aggravated the current inter-communal strife which, the KCP alleges, has been orchestrated by the Kuki-Zo narco-terrorist elements to transform the sacred fertile hills of Kangleipak into a sea of poppy plants.
However, there appears to be no single community that monopolizes the drug trade in the state. In June 2023, state’s special anti-drugs unit Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) the then Superintendent of Police, K. Meghachandra Singh, had stated, “there is cultivation in the hills. Now in the valley, a lot of processing units have been established, particularly in the Thoubal and Bishnupur districts,” which adjoin the hill areas. “The processing units [of brown sugar] are mainly in the Muslim areas,” Meghachandra added.
Available data on arrests in drug cases reinforce this point. The largest number of arrests are, in fact, from the relatively small Muslim minority (8.4 per cent of the population) in the state, followed by the Kuki-Chin, but significant numbers of other communities, including the Meitei, are also involved in the illegal trade.
- Afsara Shaheen
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
