Sagaing: The Kuki National Organisation / Kuki National Army – Burma (KNO/KNA-B) on Thursday strongly rejected allegations that its cadres were involved in the killing of four persons at Pilong Naga village in Kamjong district, Manipur, close to the Indo-Myanmar border. In an official statement bearing the seal of Office of the Kuki National Organisation, Government of Kuki State, General Headquarter dated 25.9.2026 and issued by the Ministry of Information and Publicity, KNA-B categorically denied that any of its cadres crossed the India-Myanmar International Border (IMB) in connection with the incident and rejected allegations of any KNA-B operation inside Indian territory.
The statement comes in response to widespread reports and allegations by police, Manipur government and Tangkhul Naga bodies that suspected Myanmar-based KNA-B militants entered Pilong village on September 24 afternoon and shot dead four Tangkhul Naga civilians. According to police and local reports, the victims were identified as Phami Jajo (43) of Kangpat Khullen, Ningthem Kashak (35) of Zingsui, Betterson Jajo (50) of Kangpat Khunou and Vareishim Jajo (67) of Kangpat Khullen — father and son among them. Pilong village is located around 34-35 km from Kamjong district headquarters, between border pillars 91 and 95, along the Namya River. Police said a suo-moto case has been registered under BNS sections for criminal trespass, kidnapping, murder by group, criminal intimidation, UA(P) Act and Arms Act. The Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) called a 24-hour emergency shutdown from 7 am Friday condemning the killings as brutal and alleged that heavily armed Kuki terror groups crossed from Phailen Kuki village in Myanmar.
In its rebuttal, KNA-B strongly disputed the description of the deceased as innocent civilians. According to sources cited by KNA-B, the four individuals were cadres of NSCN (IM/EF) allegedly involved in illegal drug-trafficking activities. The organisation maintains that the individuals were killed on the Myanmar side of the international border while allegedly engaged in drug-related activities and not inside Pilong village on the Indian side as alleged. KNA-B said this version is being deliberately suppressed to portray the incident as an attack on Naga civilians inside India.
KNA-B further alleged that following their death, cadres associated with NSCN (IM/EF) subsequently carried the bodies across the border and brought them to the village, thereby creating the circumstances in which the incident has subsequently been portrayed as a killing of civilians on Indian soil. The organisation claimed that this movement of bodies from Myanmar side to Indian side is what led villagers, police and media to believe that the killings occurred at Pilong. It stated that one person who reportedly escaped from the group and alerted authorities was actually part of the trafficking group, and that the narrative of five villagers keeping watch at Pilong settlement is fabricated.
The KNA-B statement also reiterated its long-standing policy regarding narcotics. KNA-B reiterated that it does not permit its areas of operation to be used for the transportation, storage or trafficking of illegal narcotics and rejects any attempt to associate the organization with the illegal drug trade. The group said it has zero tolerance for drug trafficking in its operational areas in Myanmar and that it has in the past acted against drug cartels operating along the border. It alleged that certain NSCN factions have been involved in facilitating cross-border drug smuggling through the Kamjong-Ukhrul corridor and that the deceased were part of such a network.
This incident marks the latest flashpoint in escalating Kuki-Naga violence along the Indo-Myanmar border in Kamjong district. According to Tangkhul Naga Long, this is the third such attack on Naga villagers in recent months after pre-dawn attacks in May on Namlee, Wanglee and Choro villages where houses were burnt. In the last nearly two weeks, at least eight people have been killed in separate incidents involving Naga and Kuki communities, with around 40 deaths reported since February this year after the Kuki-Meitei conflict subsided. Security forces including Assam Rifles, Army, CRPF with 20,000 personnel, BSF, ITBP and SSB are deployed in the area, but Naga bodies have accused the state government and border forces of failing to protect border villagers.
KNA-B has called for the entire sequence of events, including the location of the incident, activities of the deceased, movement of the bodies and any cross-border movement, to be established based on verifiable facts rather than unsubstantiated allegations. It urged independent verification through GPS coordinates of the actual killing spot, post-mortem and forensic analysis of the bodies, call detail records and investigation into drug trafficking linkages. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has strongly condemned the killing of four Tangkhul civilians and said such acts of violence have no place in society. The Manipur police team has recovered the bodies and brought them to Kamjong district hospital for post-mortem, while investigation is ongoing to determine whether the killings took place on Indian or Myanmar side.
