In a statement, the police said Pradip and his wife Ayingbi, alias Mangaih, were arrested from Leilon Vaiphei village in the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district early in the morning.
Kuki abductors released 14 Nagas and Naga abductors released 14 Kukis in a hostage exchange deal brokered by the security forces on May 13.
Following appeals by various church organisations and the government’s assurance to establish the identity of the six missing Nagas, the Nagas released the remaining 14 Kuki hostages on June 9.
Security personnel recovered the mutilated bodies of the six Nagas from Kangpokpi district on June 10.
The NIA had earlier re-registered the Manipur Police’s case on the killing of the three church leaders on May 13.
A joint team of the Manipur Police, National Investigation Agency, and Central Reserve Police Force on Friday (July 10, 2026) arrested a couple for their alleged involvement in the killing of six Liangmai Naga civilians more than a month ago.
In a statement, the police said Pradip and his wife Ayingbi, alias Mangaih, were arrested from Leilon Vaiphei village in the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district early in the morning. Both are residents of the village, located less than 30 km northwest of the State’s capital, Imphal.
“They were identified by the families of the victims. [Their involvement was] also established in the NIA evidence,” Manipur’s Director-General of Police, Mukesh Singh, said.
The police said they carried out necessary search-and-seizure procedures, while legal formalities were under way. Officials further said that efforts, based on testimonies of witnesses to the abduction of the six Nagas, were ongoing to arrest the others involved in the crime.
The six were among 48 people — 28 Kukis and 20 Nagas — abducted hours after unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed three church leaders from the Thadou community in Kangpokpi district on May 13. Eighteen of the 20 Nagas were abducted from Leilon Vaiphei village.
The Thadous are divided over their ethnic affiliation to the Kuki group.
Kuki abductors released 14 Nagas and Naga abductors released 14 Kukis in a hostage exchange deal brokered by the security forces on May 13. Among the Nagas released were the 12 abducted from Leilon Vaiphei.
Following appeals by various church organisations and the government’s assurance to establish the identity of the six missing Nagas, the Nagas released the remaining 14 Kuki hostages on June 9. Security personnel recovered the mutilated bodies of the six Nagas from Kangpokpi district on June 10.
The recovery of the bodies triggered violence in the Naga-dominated Senapati district. The United Naga Council, Manipur’s apex Naga body, declared a 24-hour total shutdown to protest the killing of the six people.
The NIA had earlier re-registered the Manipur Police’s case on the killing of the three church leaders on May 13.
