Imphal: Normal life was crippled across Manipur on Tuesday as a statewide shutdown called by the Native People's Committee Manipur (NPCM) and Iramdam Kanba Lup (IKAL) came into effect, demanding decisive security action against the armed groups responsible for an attack in the Khongbal Tangkhul area that killed three Meitei people and injured several others, ANI reported. The NPCM called a 48-hour shutdown and IKAL a 32-hour shutdown, both beginning at midnight on Monday. Shops, markets, business establishments, banks, private offices and educational institutions remained closed, government offices reported low attendance, and public transport stayed off the roads, with protesters blocking roads in Imphal East and Imphal West.

According to a Manipur Police statement, suspected militants opened fire on Monday on a group of around 14 villagers who had gone to collect firewood at Khongbal Tangkhul, under Sagolmang police station in Kangpokpi district. Three villagers from the Meitei community succumbed to their bullet injuries and four others were injured and evacuated to hospitals. Reports identified the dead as Lairenpakpam Inaobi Meitei, 40, and Aribam Noni Meetei, 35, both of Nongshum, and Ksh. Sushil Singh, 30, of Uyumpok Mamang Leikai.

The violence continued on Tuesday. DY365 reported that a Kuki-Zo man, Paolen Khongsai, was shot dead in Kangpokpi district after he and another man from Moulding village went into a nearby forest to collect bamboo shoots and were fired upon; his companion escaped back to the village. The Kuki Youth Organization (KYO), Leimakhong Block, blamed suspected NSCN-IM cadres for the shooting — an allegation police have not confirmed, and the NSCN-IM has not responded to it. Earlier on Tuesday, unidentified miscreants set fire to six Kuki-owned houses in Patleijang, a hamlet in Ukhrul district; it was not immediately clear whether anyone was hurt, the report said.

The NPCM has demanded the identification and vacation of unauthorised armed camps near the Khongbal Tangkhul foothills and Khamenlok, additional security deployment in vulnerable areas, and a transparent, time-bound investigation into the killings. Local MLA Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh said the villagers had taken permission from the Assam Rifles before setting out and asked how such an attack could happen in an area meant to be secured, DY365 reported. Kuki organisations, including the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), condemned Monday's killings and demanded an investigation.

Manipur Police said the state police, in coordination with the CRPF, BSF, Army, Assam Rifles and other security agencies, are working continuously to maintain law and order and prevent further escalation, with intensified action against those involved and an appeal to all sections of society to cooperate. No arrests had been reported so far. The hill districts have been on edge since February, when clashes broke out between Kuki and Naga groups — a conflict in which more than 40 people have reportedly died.

Sources: ANI; Manipur Police statement; DY365; PTI syndication reports.