NIA nabs three involved in deadly attack on security forces in Manipur's Tengnoupal

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested three insurgents for their involvement in a deadly ambush on security forces in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district earlier this year, which left two police commandos dead and several others injured.

The attack took place on January 17, 2024, when insurgents targeted an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) post in Moreh, a volatile town along the Indo-Myanmar border.

According to NIA officials, the three arrested insurgents had meticulously planned and executed the assault along with other members of their groups.

Among those arrested is Thangminlen Mate, a resident of Tengnoupal district and a key operative of the Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal (KIT) insurgent outfit. He was apprehended from Silchar, Assam, on May 19 and produced before the NIA court in Guwahati, which remanded him in judicial custody at the Central Jail, Guwahati.

The other two accused—Kamginthang Gangte, affiliated with the Kuki National Army (KNA), and Hentinthang Kipgen, alias Thangneo Kipgen, a member of the Village Volunteers group in Churachandpur—were arrested from Imphal on June 6.

The duo played a direct role in carrying out the attack, investigators said. They were granted transit remand by a duty magistrate and are being transferred to the NIA Special Court in Guwahati.

The NIA has said that further raids and searches are ongoing as efforts intensify to track down other conspirators involved in the deadly ambush.