Biren Singh holds meeting with MLAs to discuss abduction of 2 Meitei men in Manipur

A video of two missing Meitei men surfaced on social media on Sunday, where they appealed to the Chief Minister to secure their release from Kuki militants.

In Short

• Singh held meeting after video of two men appealing for rescue surfaced
• Three men strayed into Kuki area on Friday, one rescued by central forces
• Search on for two missing men, Singh says they were abducted by Kuki militants

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh held a meeting with both the ruling and opposition MLAs on Sunday in connection with the two missing men from the Meitei community since Friday.

A video of two missing Meitei men surfaced on social media on Sunday, where they appealed to the Chief Minister to secure their release from Kuki militants.

Notably, three Meitei men had gone to appear for the Staff Selection Commission General Duty recruitment test at Keithemanbi on Friday, but they took a wrong way and strayed into the nearby Kuki tribe-dominated Kangpokpi district.

One of the three men, identified as N Johnson Singh, was rescued by combined security forces from Kangpokpi and was handed over to the Imphal Police the same day.

"One youth identified as N Johnson Singh has been rescued and is in the safe hands of security forces, while a search is on for the other two youths identified as Th Thoithoiba Singh and O Thoithoi Singh," a central force official said.

Biren Singh condemned the incident and said that the state government is working for the safe release of the victims.

"Held a meeting with all the MLAs from both the Ruling and Opposition parties at my Secretariat, today. Addressed the current situation in the state particularly focusing on the rescue of the abduction of two innocent youths by Kuki militants. We condemn such heinous acts and our government is working to secure the safe release of the victims," the Chief Minister said in a post on X.

Combined forces of state police and central forces have been conducting search operations since Friday, after the men were reported missing by their family members, police said.

A public meeting was held in connection with the incident on Saturday and a Joint Action Committee was formed. The committee later submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister N Biren Singh through Deputy Commissioner of Thoubal.