Manipur police have registered a suo motu FIR in connection with the killings of two migrant construction workers from Bihar in Kakching district, while Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh to their families.

Sources said the officer-in-charge of Kakching police station registered the suo motu FIR on Saturday. The FIR stated that “two non-locals returning from Wabagai side by riding two bicycles after work were shot by unknown armed miscreants at Keirak Makha Leikai on the Indo Burma Sugnu Road” around 5pm on Saturday.

The deceased, identified as Sunalal Kumar, 18, and Dashrath Kumar, 17, from Gopalganj district, were rushed to the Jivan Hospital in Kakching by the police but were declared brought dead. Their bodies were then sent to Imphal for post-mortem and is likely to be sent to Bihar by air after the necessary formalities are completed,
sources said.

Nitish Kumar on Sunday has expressed his sorrow over the killings and announced the ex gratia for the families of the deceased, which will be given from the chief minister’s relief fund. Nitish also directed senior officials of the labour resources and social welfare departments to provide benefits to families of the deceased under various workers’ schemes.

The Bihar administration has initiated efforts to bring home the bodies of the youths back to their native village, Rajwahi, in Gopalganj district. The chief minister has instructed the Bihar resident commissioner in Delhi to arrange for the bodies to be brought back.

A local from Kakching said that non-Manipuris have been targeted “after a long time”. He also mentioned that many non-Manipuris (outsiders) live in Kakching, which is about 1.5km from Keirak, where the duo was killed.

A two-hour sit-in protest was also organised on Sunday afternoon by the Keirak Apunba Meira Paibee and Keirak United Development Association (KUDA), condemning the killings. The protestors demanded to know why the two men were killed and who was responsible for
their deaths.

The Kakching killings took place hours after a Meitei youth was killed in an encounter with the police in adjoining Thoubal district, while six others were arrested with arms. Both Kakching and Thoubal are Meitei-majority districts.

The incident also took place amid the ongoing Parliament session, where Outer Manipur MP Alfred Kanngam S Arthur, during the Constitution debate on Saturday, questioned the Centre’s handling of the ongoing ethnic conflict in the state, which has left at least 261 dead and over 60,000 displaced.

Arthur also asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi “is not answerable to the people of Manipur”, which has been in turmoil since May 3, 2023.

There was also a protest in Thoubal on Sunday, where women blocked key roads seeking the immediate release of the six people arrested on Saturday. They claimed to be village volunteers.

Police had said on Saturday night that the 18-year-old Laishram Prem Singh, who was killed in the Thoubal encounter on Saturday morning, had been “missing since August 13.” He had allegedly joined the militant outfit PREPAK and was staying in Kakching district.

The police also stated that the deceased and the arrested individuals “had come from the Kakching Khunao area to extort money in Salungpham village” in Thoubal
district.