Senior Congress leader and former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Tuesday hit out at the N. Biren Singh government for its "failure" to prevent Monday’s ambush on an advance security convoy of the chief minister on its way to strife-hit Jiribam district.

“It is unfortunate (the ambush)... The government side should take full precaution before sending (advance convoys)... This is the total failure from the government side,” the Congress leader said.

A Manipur Police post on X late on Monday night said the advance security team of the chief minister was ambushed near Kotlen in Kangpokpi district on NH37 by suspected Kuki militants. A cop and a civilian driver were injured.

Ibobi also said that the governments, both in the state and the Centre, “are not doing their duty”, referring to the displacement of people from troubled Jiribam.

Homes of members of both Meiteis and Kuki-Zo communities and a few police posts were targeted in an arson triggered by the murder of a Meitei man on Thursday. Over 1,600 people were displaced following the murder, of whom around 910 persons are Meiteis. Some 150 Kuki-Zo persons are taking shelter at the Jiribam district headquarters. Hundreds from both communities are taking shelter, “mostly with relatives”, in Assam.

The situation is tense but under control on Tuesday, an official said.

BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh also took to X and demanded that the state government order an inquiry into the “lackadaisical attitude” of officers forwarned about the developing scenario in Jiribam district and fix responsibility, but didn't name anyone.

According to media reports, the state government had written thrice to the police headquarters on the movement of about 200 Kuki-Zo militants from Churachandpur to Jiribam district since January.

Singh, the chief minister's son-in-law, said that the officers who had intelligence inputs but did not act on them "should be held accountable for the loss of lives and property of all those affected". He added they should be held accountable for the ambush, "also related to the Jiribam incident".

The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a conglomerate of leading valley-based CSOs, condemning Monday’s ambush, said the “central government’s neutral stance amidst these attacks" compromised the safety of people and "undermined" the state government's "authority".

Urging Manipur residents to “take charge of their future", the COCOMI said: “Given the central government’s betrayal, the people of Manipur no longer feel secure. Under the current leadership of Prime Minister Modi and home minister Amit Shah, the hope for a peaceful and prosperous Manipur has dwindled....”