An apex body of Naga women in Manipur petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), seeking the Centre’s intervention for the release of six Naga men allegedly held hostage by Kuki groups. They also demanded the abrogation of agreements signed with several Kuki extremist groups.

The appeal of the Naga Women’s Union (NWU) followed a memorandum from the Kuki-Zo Council, an apex body of Kuki-Zo communities in the conflict-scarred State, to the Prime Minister on May 18. The Kuki body had sought the safe release of 14 Kuki men, including three minor students, allegedly held hostage by Naga groups.

The latest hostage crisis hit Manipur after unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed three Thadou church leaders on May 13. A section of Thadous claim it is a tribe independent of the Kuki tag.

Six hostages remain

On Wednesday (May 20, 2026), hundreds of NWU members staged protests in the Naga-majority hill districts — Chandel, Kamjong, Noney, Senapati, Tamenglong, and Ukhrul — to demand the release of the six Naga captives and the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreements.

The Centre signed the SoO deals with more than 20 Kuki and Zomi tribe-based extremist groups in 2008. Some of these groups allegedly operate in Myanmar as well.

In the memorandum to the Prime Minister, the NWU said Kuki extremists had abducted 20 Naga civilians, 14 of whom were released in exchange for an equal number of Kuki hostages on May 15. The union identified the remaining abductees as church leaders Manu Thiumai, Henpibou, Phenrongwibou, Phenringlungbou, Dilip, and Kaliwangbou.

The NWU also demanded that the Centre arrest and prosecute all those involved in the abductions, deliver justice to Wilson Thanga, a Naga villager killed in the Noney district on May 13, and ensure the welfare, rehabilitation, and protection of the women who had been released.

Attacks by armed men

Officials said the security forces were continuing their search-and-rescue operations.

In the State’s capital, Imphal, a Tangkhul Naga delegation from Ukhrul district met Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, and urged him to deploy India Reserve Battalion personnel at Sinakeithei, a vulnerable village.

The delegation said repeated attacks by armed men on the village in the recent past resulted in an atmosphere of constant fear, insecurity, and distress among the villagers.

The Chief Minister noted the delegation’s concerns and said disarming people with firearms in all parts of the State was an urgent need.