GUWAHATI: Two Kuki tribesmen reported missing since they left home to fix a water pipe on the outskirts of a village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district were found dead Thursday at the Mapithel hill range, reigniting Kuki-Tangkhul Naga tensions that seemed to have been resolved by the Union home ministry intervening to free 21 Naga travellers abducted from Ukhrul-Imphal Road the previous day.News about rescuers tracing the bodies of Thangboimang Khongsai (35) and Thengin Baite (40) came soon after state home minister Govindas Konthoujam informed the assembly that the 21 Tangkhul Naga men, women and children “detained” by suspected Kuki militants since Wednesday had been freed.In the immediate backlash, protesters attacked a police vehicle at Mongkot Chepu and blocked Ukhrul-Imphal Road with boulders and stones.

Khongsai, a resident of Shangkai village, and Baite, from the nearby Thawai Kuki village, had been attacked by Tangkhul Naga “volunteers” while they were out working somewhere in the hills, the Shangkai Village Authority said. A third Kuki villager, Lanminthang Kipgen, survived the attack with a bullet injury in his leg and was hospitalised in Kangpokpi district.CM Yumnam Khemchand Singh said the new BJP govt would hand over the case to NIA for a thorough, impartial probe.The violence comes weeks after a clash at Litan Sareikhong in the same district, when suspected Kuki assailants targeted a Tangkhul Naga man. The Feb 7 assault triggered three days of arson and gunfire. More than 20 houses and govt quarters were set ablaze, forcing authorities to impose prohibitory orders in the Litan area.Kukis and Nagas share a long and bloody history of ethnic conflict, a hostility that peaked in the 1990s when clashes claimed more than 1,000 lives and displaced tens of thousands. At the core lies land and identity.Nagas have long asserted that they are the “original settlers” in Manipur’s hills, holding primary rights to the territory. Kukis demand equal recognition and territorial rights.The Meitei-Kuki conflict that erupted on May 3, 2023, is relatively new, triggered by a Manipur high court order on ST status for the Meitei population. The issue remains unresolved.The high court order sparked violent protests from Kuki groups, who feared that ST status for the majority Meitei community would erode their land rights and political safeguards. The unrest has since claimed over 260 lives and displaced more than 60,000 people, many of whom continue to live in relief camps across Manipur and neighbouring Mizoram.