Imphal, India – January 14, 2025 – A brazen ambush on a state highway in Manipur has left one civilian driver dead, a police constable critically injured, and five protesters wounded, triggering a fresh wave of political recriminations between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party over the deteriorating security situation in the northeastern state.
The attack occurred late Tuesday evening near the Bishnupur district, approximately 35 kilometers south of Imphal. According to police sources, a group of unidentified assailants fired indiscriminately at a commercial vehicle traveling along National Highway 37, which has been a flashpoint for violence in recent months. The driver, identified as 34-year-old Md. Furkan Ali, died on the spot. A police constable accompanying a separate patrol unit that rushed to the scene was shot in the shoulder and remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Eyewitness Accounts and Escalating Toll
Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers then fired into a crowd of local residents who had gathered to protest the killing, wounding five demonstrators. Two of the injured are listed as critical. The incident occurred hours after a call for a “total shutdown” by several Kuki-Zo civil society groups demanding the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from certain areas and stricter protection for ethnic minorities.
“This is a direct challenge to the state’s authority,” said Manipur Director General of Police, Rajiv Mehta, in a brief statement. “We are treating this as a coordinated act of terror. Forensic teams are on site, and a high-level investigation has been ordered.”
The ambush marks the deadliest single incident in Manipur since October, when clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities left over 60 people dead. The state has been under a fragile ceasefire arrangement brokered by the Union Home Ministry, but sporadic violence has continued.
Political Blame Game Intensifies
The tragedy has rapidly become a political weapon. In New Delhi, Congress party spokesperson Pankaj Sharma sharply criticized the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, accusing it of “complete policy paralysis in the Northeast.”
“For over two years, Manipur has been bleeding. The Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh, has failed to control the situation despite repeated assurances from the Home Minister,” Sharma said during a press conference. “Mr. Modi talks about development, but on the ground, innocent drivers are being gunned down in broad daylight. This is a national security failure.”
The state’s ruling BJP has hit back. Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, himself a Meitei leader, condemned the attack as the work of “anti-national elements backed by foreign forces,” a veiled reference to alleged support for Kuki militants from Myanmar. Singh announced an ex gratia payment of ₹10 lakh to the family of the deceased driver and promised free medical treatment for the injured.
However, the Congress has demanded the immediate deployment of additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the removal of the state’s Director General of Police, accusing the state government of community bias. “The violence is not random; it is a symptom of a government that has lost control and a Prime Minister who is too busy with election rallies to care,” added Sharma.
Regional Tensions and a Fractured Society
The ambush site lies in a volatile corridor separating the Imphal Valley, predominantly inhabited by Meitei Hindus, and the surrounding hills, home to Kuki-Zo Christian tribes. The political fault lines are stark. While the state government is led by the BJP in alliance with the Naga People’s Front (NPF), the Congress remains powerful in the Meitei-dominated constituencies. The Kuki-Zo community, largely represented by the Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA), has accused successive state governments of discrimination.
Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to hold a conference call with Chief Minister Singh and security chiefs later today. Opposition parties have demanded a Parliament debate, but the winter session has concluded. With the national political spotlight now fixed on Manipur, the question remains whether this latest ambush will force a substantive shift in federal strategy or deepen the stalemate that has already claimed hundreds of lives since May 2023.
For now, the highway remains closed, and the body of Md. Furkan Ali lies in a morgue, a grim testament to a political conflict that shows no signs of abating.