Eyewitnesses say Haokip was shot unarmed at home on 16 June; locals claim forces hid his civilian clothes, took body; civil groups demand independent probe as CRPF stays silent
By: St. Ginth Haokip, Kukiland Express
Songpi, June 17, 2026: Henglep, Churachandpur district, has been thrown into turmoil after local residents accused COBRA CRPF personnel of killing a civilian, Lenminsang Haokip, and staging a fake encounter on 16 June 2026. Eyewitnesses say Lenminsang Haokip was unarmed and at home when security forces entered the area. According to their accounts, he was shot twice in the chest at close range. The incident occurred amid heightened tension, but villagers insist there was no exchange of fire and that Lenminsang Haokip had no links to any armed group.
The allegations intensified when residents reported that security personnel stripped Lenminsang Haokip’s civilian clothing and dressed his body in militant fatigues before taking it away. Villagers who later searched the site claim they found his bloodstained shirt and trousers discarded in the bushes near Songkong. Community members say the act was a deliberate attempt to frame the killing as a legitimate counter-insurgency operation. “They tried to erase who he was. They turned a father and farmer into a militant after killing him,” one resident said.
Local sources detailed that Lenminsang Haokip, 38, was a cultivator from Kolchung village and a father of three. He had been part of the village defense arrangement set up after repeated threats to the area since May 2023, a system residents say exists only because state protection has been absent. Neighbors stated that on the morning of 16 June, a COBRA CRPF unit entered the periphery of Songkong without prior notice to village authorities. Gunfire was heard for less than two minutes, and no return fire was reported by any civilian present.
The reported tampering with evidence has triggered widespread anger across Henglep Sub-Division. Local civil bodies and church leaders have called the killing an extrajudicial execution and a violation of the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution. They argue that such actions deepen mistrust in the state and embolden impunity. With past allegations of staged encounters in Manipur unresolved, residents fear this case will follow the same pattern of denial and delay unless forced into public scrutiny.
Legal advocates from Churachandpur have pointed to procedural violations in the handling of the body. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure and National Human Rights Commission guidelines, the body of a person killed in police action must be preserved for magisterial inquiry and handed over to family for last rites. Villagers say COBRA CRPF took the body to an undisclosed location and refused to confirm where the post-mortem would be conducted. The Kuki Human Rights Council said the denial of last rites obstructs transparency and violates customary and legal norms.
Demands for accountability are growing louder. Village councils, women’s groups, and youth organizations are jointly seeking an independent judicial inquiry monitored by civil society, a forensic examination of the recovered clothing, and the immediate preservation of all evidence. They also insist that the post-mortem be conducted in the presence of family representatives and that the body be returned without further alteration. “Justice for Lenminsang Haokip is a test of whether the law applies to men in uniform,” a community elder said at a gathering in Kolchung.
The incident has reignited debate over the deployment of central forces in buffer zones. Henglep lies along a contested boundary where civilian volunteers have maintained watchposts since violence escalated in the state. Critics argue that operations against village defenders divert resources from active conflict areas in Leimakhong, Kamjong, Noney, Senapati, and Ukhrul, where hostilities and civilian casualties have been documented through 2025 and 2026. KHRC reiterated that over 1,350 Kuki civilians have been killed since 1993 by various armed groups, and said state forces must not add to that toll.
As of now, the state government and COBRA CRPF have not issued a detailed response to the specific allegations of evidence tampering and fake encounter. The silence has only hardened local sentiment that Kuki civilians face selective targeting while other conflict zones see continued violence. Until an impartial probe establishes the facts and fixes responsibility, villagers say peace in Manipur will remain fragile. The call from Henglep is unequivocal: uniforms cannot be a license to kill, and justice cannot wait.
