Manipur Legislator Demands Border Security Overhaul Following Killings

Imphal: MLA Leishiyo Keishing wants the Manipur government to seize control of the border. He argues the state must intervene if the Assam Rifles cannot hold the line. This demand comes after KNA-B militants killed four Naga civilians on September 24. The attack hit Pilong village in the Kamjong district. It sits dangerously close to the Myanmar border.

Keishing toured border villages from September 25 to 26. He slammed the decision to close a vital police outpost at Skipe. Foreign militants are pushing locals out of their homes. Several villages now stand empty. Pilong, Skipe, Aloyo, Choro, Namlee, and Wanglee are deserted. The area feels like it belongs to a foreign country.

The legislator wants the state to deploy three companies of the Indian Reserve Battalion immediately. Displaced villagers need a safe way home. Pilong headman Zingmin Jajo says authorities ignored past warnings. Heavily armed KNA-B fighters sit just across the border. The victims were part of a local rotational civilian watch group. Jajo explained, "Requests for adequate security reinforcements had previously been ignored by authorities."

Ethnic violence has stalled progress for years. Plans to turn Pilong into a regional trade hub began in 2016. That work stopped as conflict flared up again.