The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested Rajkumar Maipaksana, a member of the banned insurgent outfit People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), for his alleged involvement in a gruesome murder and arson case in Manipur's Jiribam district.
The arrest took place in Kannur district, Kerala, and the accused has been placed under transit remand by the NIA special court in Kochi for production before the Imphal NIA court.
According to the NIA, Rajkumar, a resident of Jiribam, played a key role in the November 2024 attack on Zairawn village, where a tribal woman named Zosangkim was brutally tortured and killed. The attackers also looted and torched several homes during the assault.
“The autopsy report revealed the extent of the brutality—the 31-year-old victim had suffered third-degree burns over 99 per cent of her body, with multiple limbs and facial structures missing. Due to the charred condition of her body, viscera collection for chemical analysis was impossible,” said an NIA official.
This is the third arrest in the case, as the central agency had earlier apprehended two other militants associated with different banned outfits. The agency is continuing its investigation and is on the lookout for additional suspects involved in the crime.
The incident forms part of a wider wave of violence that has engulfed Manipur since May 2023, stemming from ethnic tensions between the Meitei community in the Imphal valley and the Kuki-Zo tribes from the surrounding hill districts. Over 260 people have lost their lives and thousands have been displaced in the ongoing conflict.
Jiribam, an ethnically diverse region that had largely remained peaceful, was drawn into the unrest after the mutilated body of a farmer was discovered in a field in June 2023, sparking local tensions. The Centre eventually imposed President’s Rule in Manipur on February 13, 2025, following the resignation of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.
The unrest initially erupted following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ held in the hill districts to oppose the Meitei community’s demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category— a move that remains at the heart of the state's ethnic and political divide.
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