Manipur HC directs NIA to file progress report on Jiribam killings

The Manipur High Court has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to submit a detailed progress report on the killings of six Meitei community members in Jiribam district last November.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice K. Somasekhar and Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh issued the directive on Monday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Soram Tekendrajit.

Three women and three children, including a 10-month-old infant, were abducted on November 11, 2024, from the Borobekra area. Their bullet-riddled bodies were recovered four days later from the Barak River along the Manipur-Assam border.


The court expressed concern over the apparent lack of progress in the investigation, noting that although an FIR was registered on the day of the incident, no progress report has been filed under Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and no chargesheet has been submitted so far.

“It has been more than seven months since the incident. If the chargesheet is not filed, the matter should be viewed seriously,” the court observed.

The bench directed the NIA to submit a comprehensive progress report before the next hearing, scheduled for July 24.

On November 26, 2024, the NIA said it had launched a thorough investigation into three major cases of violence in Manipur, acting on directions from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The cases were re-registered on November 13, 2024, in light of the gravity of the offences and to uncover the broader conspiracy behind the attacks.

In the first case (FIR No. 29(11) Borobekra PS, dated November 11, 2024), several houses were torched and two civilians killed in Borobekra. Subsequently, unidentified militants abducted and murdered six individuals — three women and three children.