New Delhi: Nearly two months after six Naga civilians were abducted and subsequently killed in Leilon Vaiphei village of Manipur, the National Investigation Agency Friday arrested a man and his wife from the same village in a joint operation with Manipur Police and the CRPF, police said.
According to the police, Pradip and his wife Ayingbi were arrested in the operation conducted based on “credible inputs”.
The operation was launched in the early hours of Friday at Leilon Vaiphei where the six Naga civilians—identified as Pr. Kenpibou, Rev Manu, Phenrongwibou, Phenrilungbou, Dilip and Kaliwangbou—were alegedly abducted in the early hours of 13 May while returning from a wedding. Their mutilated bodies were later found on 10 June.
A senior police source said Friday that the couple were arrested after they were identified by witnesses in the abduction case.
“Efforts are on to trace the remaining accused persons,” a senior police officer from Manipur Police told ThePrint. “The arrests took place based on the evidence collected by the NIA. The evidence showed the involvement of a few people, and these two were part of the same group. So, teams of the Manipur Police, the NIA and CRPF jointly arrested the duo from the same village.”
He further said, “Initially, when the Manipur Police was investigating the case, we had identified five to six people, based on the victim families’ statements. However, there was not enough evidence (against them). The NIA took over the investigation later.”
Multiple Naga groups have been demanding action in the matter for weeks. A member of the Naga People’s Forum said that no meaningful action had been taken against those responsible.
“The perpetrators continued to roam free while the victims’ families awaited justice and closure,” he said. “The brutality was not just in the killing, but the mutilation, the dismembering by chopping off the body parts,” he added.
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The killing and protests
The bodies of six Naga civilians were recovered from outside the Leilon Vaiphei village on 10 June, triggering protests by Naga and Meitei communities demanding the arrest of the perpetrators.
Naga groups blocked all routes to Kangpokpi district, where Leilon Vaiphei falls.
The Naga People’s Forum member quoted above told ThePrint that the six Nagas were allegedly abducted by Kukis, while returning from the wedding.
A member of Kuki-Inpi group told ThePrint Friday that when the Nagas had claimed Kukis were behind the murder “we had clarified that we have no involvement and we did not know the whereabouts about the six Nagas”.
ThePrint reached out to the Community of Tribal Unity (CoTU), a civil society organization representing the Kuki-Zo community, on Friday to ask the ethnicity of the couple arrested in the case. But there was no response. The report will be updated if and when they respond.
On the basis of credible inputs from own sources, a joint team of Manipur Police, NIA and CRPF launched a precise operation to apprehend two accused who were allegedly involved in killing of 6 (six) Naga individuals on 13/05/2026 in Leilon Vaiphei village.
The operation was…
— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) July 10, 2026
Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister T R Zeliang also issued a statement, condemning the “barbaric and senseless act of violence in the strongest possible terms”.
“The abduction and subsequent killing of these innocent men in such a cruel and brutal manner have shaken me to the core. No cause, grievance, ideology, or conflict can ever justify the way these men were slaughtered like animals and pieces of them handed back to their families. Such acts are a direct assault on the values of humanity, peace, and coexistence that bind our society together,” he said.
Days after the bodies were found, Kuki Zo Council (KZC) chairman Henlianthang Thanglet apologised over the incident and called for an impartial investigation into all acts of violence linked to the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur.
“I admit the Kuki-Zo people made a grave mistake in killing the six Naga civilians. It was done out of emotion. I strongly condemn it. I am very sorry and apologise on behalf of my people,” he had told a press conference on 25 June.
However, a day later, the KZC stated that certain portions of Thanglet’s remarks had been “misconstrued as an admission of responsibility by the Kuki-Zo community”.
It stated that the chairperson’s expression of sorrow was made purely in the spirit of humanity, compassion, and moral responsibility and “was not intended to assign collective guilt”.
The All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM), also expressed “indignation” and unequivocally repudiated the “so-called apology issued by the self-style leaders of Kuki-Zo Council”.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)