Imphal: The High Court of Manipur ordered the state government to submit a new Action Taken Report regarding unresolved disappearances from the 2023 ethnic violence. Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh issued the directive Monday during a hearing for PIL No. 3 of 2026. The Families of Involuntarily Disappeared Association, Manipur, filed the petition against the Union of India and eight other respondents.
State officials reported that four cases involving eight people moved to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Lawyers for the petitioners countered that the litigation actually involves 16 cases and 23 missing individuals. The state needs more time. They are waiting on instructions from the Home Commissioner regarding the remaining 15 victims.
One case centers on Naorem Prakash Singh, Leichombam Suraj, and Thongam Shyam Singh. These three men vanished on May 11, 2023, after returning to Torbung Bangla to retrieve belongings from homes destroyed during the fighting. FIR No. 14(5) of 2023 tracks this specific incident. The Manipur Human Rights Commission closed the file on July 11, 2024, telling police to send updates to the families. Families claim those updates never arrived.
The court also reviewed FIR No. 196(9) of 2023 involving Maisnam Malemnganba, G. Bony Sharma, and P. Abinash. They went missing on June 3, 2023. Tracking data placed them near Kwakta. State investigators found nothing. A status report from the Bishnupur SP on June 20, 2024, called the matter sensitive, noting that a proposal to hand the investigation to the CBI "had been sent to the DGP on January 4, 2024." The Bench ordered the government to file a comprehensive report before the next hearing.
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