Disinformation and rumour mongering continue to cause spurts of mob-led violence in Manipur. This has been continuously highlighted by journalists, especially when the State plunged into ethnic violence in 2023. Live videos that spread misinformation about serious offences, such as sexual violence, led to tribal Kuki-Zo women facing brutalities, one of which is the viral video where two Vaiphei women were seen being paraded naked. Fake news became a central point to strengthen polarising narratives, and throughout the violence, there have been multiple instances where disinformation has led to irreparable violence and loss of life. Yet, little has been done in the past three years to decisively address the issue.

This is an account of how one such rumour led to an Army officer almost being lynched.

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On April 14, I travelled through Moirang towards the peripheral areas that lie between the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur and the tribal-dominated Churachandpur.

This part has been seeing blockades and protests after April 7, when two Meitei children were killed in an explosion at Tronglaobi. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) are in the process of investigating this explosion, and according to a statement by the Manipur government, three United Kuki National Army (UKNA) cadres have been arrested and are being questioned. Security forces have also stated that the role of local players in being behind the attack to disrupt the newly instated government’s activities is also being probed.

After the incident, disinformation that security forces are harbouring those behind the explosion led to mobs attacking Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camps in the vicinity. In one such attack, where the mob attempted to loot the armoury in the camp, the CRPF opened fire, killing three and injuring several people. This action created further unrest and distrust among Meiteis. Protests and torch rallies are taking place across the Valley, condemning the killings. Mobile internet remains suspended, and there is a curfew in place, which is relaxed from time to time.

Along the highway leading to Churachandpur—which is in the vicinity of the explosion—there are barricades set up by civilians and manned by Meira Paibis. I noticed these barricades as I passed, but the women at the checkpoints let me through after I told them I was a journalist. In addition to at least eight such barricades, there are six barricades that are manned by security forces who are fully armed at Torbung, the border of Churachandpur and Bishnupur.

I was returning from the area at around 2 PM when I noticed that the number of women on the highway had substantially increased at the Moirang junction. A little ahead, I noticed a convoy of Rapid Action Force (RAF) that was proceeding in the direction of Imphal. People on the streets in and around Naranseina were calling more people onto the street to block the RAF, but when I asked them what was happening, there was no clear answer.

I assumed that they are stopping the movement of security forces, as it usually happens during these periods of unrest. I passed the RAF convoy and reached Phubala, where the mob was much larger in size. I passed a vehicle on my left that had been set on fire. I told the driver of my cab to park a little ahead, and I got out of my vehicle at Thinungei. The mob didn’t have one clear answer about what was happening, so I approached a police convoy (which I was later told was the Superintendent of Police’s convoy) that was parked a little ahead. I asked a Manipur Police Service officer what was happening, but he did not answer my questions.

I turned around to notice a white car driving towards us, with people throwing rocks at it while chasing it. The windows of this car had already been smashed in, but the speeding car came to a halt after the mob managed to surround it. The driver jumped out, and I could tell that he was Pangal.

When I went closer to the car, I looked through the glassless windows and spotted three people in the back seat, two of whom had rifles with them. One of them stepped out from the right door, and I could tell he was not from Manipur from his accent. He had a walkie-talkie in his hand, similar to the ones that security forces use. Even though he was in civilian clothes, it was easy to identify him as belonging to the Central forces. The mob had meanwhile started ripping apart the car.

Next to me, I saw members of the mob telling the police personnel to leave and almost instantly, the police vehicles moved out of there. To my shock, I couldn’t spot my cab, but I immediately walked away from the mob. By then, the size of the mob had exponentially increased. The people from the white car seemed to have fled, except for the one person I had spotted, whom the mob had gotten hold of. He was brutally beaten right in front of me. I spotted police vans now parked a little ahead and rushed towards them, enquiring why they weren’t rescuing the man who was being lynched.

The police personnel seemed confused. A few minutes later, a police car eventually extradited the man from the mob and brought him towards where I was. When I approached the man, who by then had exited the police vehicle, he identified himself as belonging to the “Assam Rifles”. He had injuries all over his face and was bleeding from his nose. As he was informing his seniors about what had transpired, he told me that there were five people in the car and that he wasn’t aware of what happened to the rest of them.

During this chaos, a man from the mob kept screaming, “Why did the mob hit you?” over and over again. Even though the people at this spot were spread out and looking on nervously, there was very little attention towards the officer who was bleeding, since up ahead, the mobs had started to burn vehicles. This man kept screaming through his lungs, eventually bringing the mob to us. By then, the police vehicles that were in the vicinity had left.

One by one, people from the mob started questioning who we were. I identified as a journalist, and the officer said he was with the Assam Rifles (AR).

People in the mob then alleged that the officer was accompanying armed Kukis in his car. I did not understand where this allegation was coming from, so I asked those in the mob how they came to this conclusion. Some of them said that Kukis had been spotted in the vicinity and were being protected by security forces. Now this is something I have been hearing about since 2023. During instances of peak violence, Meiteis would allege that the Central forces are biased against Meiteis and are helping the movement of Kuki insurgents. While Central forces have complete control over hill districts because of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), the possibility of them facilitating the movement of Kukis in Valley districts, especially in many areas where AFSPA is no longer applicable, seemed absurd. And at face of it, it was clear that it was a disinformation modelled to create panic.

In any case, I told those in the mob that I had not seen any Kukis in the car. The confused officer also said there were no Kukis with him and that he was travelling from Imphal. But the mob did not seem convinced. Instead, this narrative that “Armed Kukis are roaming around freely because of security forces” kept repeating over and over again. While this heated argument didn’t seem to end, a man from the mob lunged at the officer, hitting him pretty hard on his head in front of me. Almost instantly, others started raining blows at him. People started running towards him, including young boys, with sticks and stones. In seconds, the mob started dragging him away, hitting him all the while.

At a distance, I could see smoke billowing from the white car that was now under flames and sirens of the RAF going off.

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The officer (who is a Major and a Company Commander with the Assam Rifles) and the others were eventually rescued from the mob by security forces.

The background to this is that less than a kilometre away, at Ningthoukhong, some individuals who were part of the group that was blocking the highway had stopped the white car. The women at the blockade had instantly alleged that the Kukis were travelling in the car. The car itself had tinted glasses, so till the windows were smashed, one could not spot the people inside the car clearly. Even though the internet is temporarily suspended in five Valley districts, a video was in circulation within hours of this incident. The same white car is visible, and a woman is heard screaming in the background that there are Kukis in the car.

As men walk towards the car, the car speeds away. This video was viral within hours, even though the internet is temporarily suspended in five valley districts. On social media, Meiteis alleged the same as at Thingungei, that security forces are helping armed Kukis travel through the Valley districts. Many Kukis, on the other hand, had bought into the rumour and proclaimed that they would rather wash their hands of those who had willingly ventured into the valley in spite of the political position of the community.

Clashes between mob and security forces

At Moirang, an altercation ensued between the mob and the security forces, leading to over 30 people being hospitalised. An altercation that ensued from misinformation spiralled into full-fledged antagonism between people in Imphal and the security forces. Rallies are being organised every day, where more such clashes are taking place.

On the same day of the incident, the Manipur police issued a statement claiming that those in the car were security forces who were pursuing a lead after a drug bust. On April 15, State Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam said that violence at Thinungei was because of a “misunderstanding” between the public and security forces. Four people were arrested from among the mob who were seen as responsible for inciting violence.

The reality in Manipur is that people have now become habituated to using misinformation for orchestrating chaos. Every instance of unrest has turned into a situation for people to spread videos that are bound to polarise, especially closer to the periphery areas, which are already volatile. Many channels are in place to direct people to carry out actions like blocking highways, who, willingly or not, play into the theatrics of unrest.

The gravity of the mob almost lynching the officer was downplayed by the government as “sentiments running high”. This attitude of the government has, in many ways, led civilians to believe that they are above law and order, emboldening them to behave almost ruthlessly, which has been the case in the past three years. What Manipur’s newly instated government is doing to ensure that this form of brazen mob behaviour is no longer the norm is yet to be seen.

Sources in the government told this reporter that the Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei militia that rose to prominence after May 2023 for carrying out attacks on villages in the hills and for steering hate speech, were told to dismantle all their units early in 2026. Not surprisingly, the group has been actively mobilising around the killings in Tronglaobi, repeatedly using the same polarising narratives that they have steered in the past.

Security forces that Frontline spoke to alleged that this is being done to discredit the present government. According to them, the manner in which the explosion was carried out in Tronglaobi minimised the possibility of Kuki insurgent groups being involved. The Arambai, meanwhile, has been instigating people to barricade roads, take out rallies and observe a bandh, forcing even schools to shut down. The split within the BJP in Manipur, where former Chief Minister Biren Singh, along with MP Sanajaoba, controls the Arambai Tenggol, has become obvious now more than ever.

The larger question here is also how the mob used the alleged presence of Kukis in the car to attack the AR personnel. This runs contrary to the claims of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, who recently travelled through the Kuki district of Kangpokpi, urging people from both communities to forget what has happened and travel across the State freely. But at Thinungei, it is clear that the animosity that runs between the communities remains the same. Further, the activities of organisations such as the Arambai Tenggol seem to be positioned to ensure that this animosity grows, even as the government in power speaks the language of peace.

Greeshma Kuthar is an independent journalist and lawyer from Tamil Nadu.

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