Overview
- Police said security forces and unidentified armed men exchanged fire during a search of Leilon Vaiphei on Sunday, June 21, with no confirmed casualties reported at the scene.
- The Committee on Tribal Unity announced an indefinite shutdown of National Highway 2 and National Highway 37 from 4 p.m. on Sunday in protest of what Kuki groups call selective security operations.
- Roadblocks enforced by Kuki civil society groups continued into Monday, June 22, closing markets and schools and restricting vehicular movement except for ambulances and relief convoys.
- Clashes broke out when forces tried to clear a blockade near New Keithelmanbi on NH-37, with local Kuki bodies alleging use of tear gas, blank firing and baton charges and reporting several injured; police and joint Army–CRPF–state operations say searches in Leilon Vaiphei and Konsakhul are ongoing.
- The standoff builds on the wider Meitei–Kuki conflict that began in May 2023, which has left roughly 250–260 dead and more than 60,000 displaced, and risks further supply disruptions and spikes in displacement unless independent investigations or central intervention restore trust.