CoTU Serves 48-hour ultimatum after abduction incident, warns of self-defence measures

The Committee on Tribal Unity today issued a stern 48-hour ultimatum to authorities following the abduction and alleged torture of a civilian on 2 October, warning it will take measures to “protect and defend” peripheral areas if the culprits are not apprehended immediately.

In a hard-hitting press communique released from Sadar Hills, the Committee said it had repeatedly appealed to the Government of India to preserve the sanctity of buffer zones that previously reduced violence between the valley and hill communities. The statement accuses security forces of withdrawing from those buffer positions — specifically naming the 9 and 22 Battalions of the Assam Rifles — “at the behest of appeasing the majoritarian Meitei community in the valley,” a move the Committee says has undermined security and facilitated further incidents.

The communique singles out the October 2 incident in which Mr. Kamginlal Chongloi of L. Phaikot Village, Leimakhong — an employee of Leimakhong Army Headquarters — was allegedly waylaid at Makhan Liangmei Nagas Village while returning from Sapormeina. According to the Committee, Mr. Chongloi was taken to Khurkhul where he was “tortured and brutally beaten” by valley-based armed militants, described in the release as a matter of “serious security concern” and evidence of the questionable role played by non-participant communities in the conflict.

The Committee also blasted the Ministry of Home Affairs for what it calls a reluctance to impose the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) across the remaining 13 police station areas in the valley. The press note argues this reluctance has “emboldened transnational terrorist groups” — naming PLA, UNLF, PREEPAK, KYKL, MPLA and Arambai Tenggol — and accuses these organisations of pursuing secessionist aims and undermining democratic processes while exploiting the ongoing President’s Rule to press their agenda.

“We have been left with no alternative,” the Committee said in the communique. “Unless the concerned authorities apprehend those responsible for the October 2 abduction within 48 hours from the time of this publication, we will be compelled to find means to protect and defend ourselves in all peripheral areas and to resume validation of commuters on NH-2 against enemies within and outside our land.”

The statement framed the ultimatum as the Committee’s last resort after sustained appeals to central authorities and warned that failure to act would force local communities to take security into their own hands. It further called for immediate arrest of the perpetrators, restoration of buffer-zone deployments and decisive action against the armed groups named in the release.

Though the Committee did not provide details on any planned preventive measures or how they would be implemented, the tone of the communique makes clear that local tolerance for continued attacks has reached a critical point.

Authorities and higher echelons of the Ministry of Home Affairs had not response to the ultimatum immediately till the filing of this report, but local residents and commuters along NH-2 are likely to be closely watching developments over the next 48 hours.