Overview
- Twenty-one Tangkhul Naga passengers stopped at Shangkai on the Imphal–Ukhrul road were freed around 3–4 am following talks involving state officials and civil society groups.
- Officials said the captors handed the group to the Army, which facilitated safe travel to Ukhrul before they were reunited with families at Litan police station.
- Hours after the release, the bodies of Thangboimang Khongsai and Thengin Baite were recovered near Thawai Kuki in Kamjong, and the chief minister said the NIA will probe the case with ex gratia support to families.
- Home minister Govindas Konthoujam told the Assembly that the MHA, BSF and Army intervened after reports of earlier firing in the Mapithel area and the subsequent detention of the 21 travellers.
- Community accounts diverged, with TNL alleging Kuki-led interception and the Shangkai village authority accusing “Tangkhul volunteers” of firing on villagers, as road blockades and security patrols persisted.