The Manipur High Court has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to submit a detailed progress report on the investigation into the Jiribam killings, in which three women and three children from the Meitei community were brutally murdered by suspected Kuki Hmar militants in November 2024.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice K. Somasekhar and Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh issued the order on Monday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by activist Soram Tekendrajit. Expressing deep concern over the slow pace of investigation, the bench emphasized the seriousness of the matter given the delay in filing a chargesheet.
“It has been more than seven months since the incident occurred. If the chargesheet is not filed, the matter should be viewed seriously,” the court remarked. It further observed that although an FIR was registered on the day of the incident—November 11, 2024—no progress report has yet been submitted under Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), nor has any chargesheet been filed by the investigating agency.
The bench directed the NIA to file a comprehensive progress report before the next hearing scheduled for July 24.
The case pertains to a gruesome attack on November 11, 2024, in the Borobekra area of Jiribam district, where three Meitei women and three children, including a 10-month-old infant, were abducted by militants. Their bullet-riddled bodies were discovered four days later in the Barak river along the Manipur-Assam border. In the same attack, two civilians were killed, and several homes were torched.
The court’s direction comes amid growing public concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and delays in delivering justice in cases involving ethnic violence.
