Fresh violence in Bishnupur on April 14 left 18 injured and prompted a curfew reimposition, after protesters demanding justice for two children killed in the April 7 Tronglaobi rocket attack set ablaze civilian vehicles carrying plain-clothed persons whose identities they suspected.
BISHNUPUR — Fresh violence gripped Bishnupur district on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 when a mob of protesters intercepted and set fire to two civilian vehicles carrying plain-clothed persons near Thinungei, injuring at least 18 people including five women. The district administration swiftly reimposed full curfew from 5 PM as tensions spiralled.
The incident unfolded when persons travelling in plain clothes in three civilian vehicles passed through a road blockade at Thinungei, where protesters had gathered demanding justice for the victims of the Tronglaobi rocket attack. Suspicious of the occupants' identities, protesters demanded identification. When the occupants reportedly refused to produce any, the crowd grew irate, with many suspecting them to be Kuki individuals allegedly transporting arms. Two of the vehicles were set ablaze by the angry mob. The occupants were subsequently rescued by security forces. As the situation escalated, security forces fired tear gas, smoke bombs, rubber bullets and live shots in the air, leaving at least 18 protesters injured, including five women.
However, the police control room offered a significantly different account. According to its statement, the persons in the vehicles were part of a joint security team travelling in civilian dress following a drug bust earlier that morning at Tulihal Airport, Imphal. At around 10:30 AM, a joint team of CISF and Airport Police had arrested a suspected drug peddler identified as Md. Sabir Ahamed of Kwakta Khuman Thongkhong, Moirang Sub-Division, Bishnupur district. Approximately 6.74 kg of suspected brown sugar, concealed inside six containers in his checked-in baggage, was seized, and he was handed over to Singjamei Police Station for investigation.
During preliminary interrogation, Ahamed allegedly disclosed the location of a concealed arms and ammunition cache in the Kwakta area of Bishnupur. The plain-clothed team was en route to act on this information when it was intercepted near Thinungei at around 1:30 PM. Police described the crowd's actions as having been triggered by the spread of what it termed "mischievous and unverified rumours" about the identity and purpose of the personnel, and said attempts were also made to detain the plain-clothed team members before additional forces were mobilised to disperse the crowd.
Four persons have been arrested in connection with the incident on charges of arson, unlawful assembly, and obstruction of duty, and efforts are underway to identify others. A flag march was subsequently conducted in the area to restore order.
The renewed violence led the district administration to reimpose full curfew in Bishnupur from 5 PM on Tuesday. The administration had earlier relaxed curfew from 5 AM to 5 PM following days of volatile unrest triggered by the Tronglaobi attack and the deaths of protesters in CRPF firing during subsequent demonstrations.
Police appealed to the public to cooperate with law enforcement and refrain from spreading rumours, warning of strict action against those involved in misinformation, arson, and violence.
The protests that set the stage for Tuesday's violence trace back to a devastating attack in the early hours of April 7, when a projectile believed to have been fired from nearby hill areas struck the residence of Oinam Malemnganba, a BSF personnel currently deployed outside the state, in the Tronglaobi Awang Leikai area of Bishnupur district. Malemnganba's wife Binita, a nurse based in Guwahati who had returned to Manipur in January on maternity leave, was home with their two children when the explosion occurred, causing severe structural damage and leaving all three critically injured. The two children — five-year-old Tomthin Oinam and his five-month-old sister Leisana Oinam — died during treatment.
As news of the children's deaths spread, Bishnupur erupted in protests. Protesters attempted to storm a CRPF post located around 500 metres east of Tronglaobi, expressing agitation over the security forces' perceived inability to prevent such an attack. Many took to the streets, enforcing blockades by burning tyres, while a mob set ablaze three trucks including two oil tankers. Security personnel opened fire in the ensuing confrontation, killing three protesters and injuring 30 others.
Chief Minister Khemchand Singh condemned the attack as an attempt by vested interests to disturb the fragile peace in the state and announced that the case would be handed over to the National Investigation Agency. He said security forces had been instructed to hunt down the perpetrators "dead or alive," and launched extensive combing operations involving state police, Assam Rifles, and CRPF, with helicopters also deployed. Security forces have carried out a sweeping series of arrests and recoveries across multiple districts of Manipur between April 8 and 12, 2026, seizing a significant cache of arms, ammunition and narcotics while dismantling militant infrastructure in remote forest and village areas. Five individuals have been arrested in connection with the operations, two of whom are linked to alleged militant activity following a deadly attack on civilians in Bishnupur district. Authorities also imposed a temporary internet suspension across five valley districts — Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching, and Bishnupur — to curb misinformation and maintain law and order.
Tronglaobi, located at the periphery of Bishnupur near the Churachandpur district border, has frequently witnessed violence since ethnic tension broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023. This current escalation is the first major flare-up since the formation of the new government under Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh in February this year.
