Army Officer Kidnapped By Insurgents In Manipur Rescued The Same Day

An army officer, who was kidnapped from his Manipur home this morning, was rescued by the Indian Army this evening after nearly 10 hours, the Army said in a statement.

Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) Naib Subedar Konsam Kheda Singh, a resident of Charangpat Mamang Leikai in the state's Thoubal district, who was on leave, was kidnapped from his home by unknown people in a vehicle at 9 am today.

"Army columns launched a coordinated joint search operation by the security agencies to rescue the JCO," the statement said.

"The synergised efforts of the security forces resulted in the JCO being safely rescued at 6:30 pm today. The JCO is currently at Waikhong Police Station (near Kakching) in the Thoubal district. Manipur Police is investigating the incident," it added.

In a post on X, the Defence Ministry's Public Relations Officer for Nagaland, Manipur & Southern Arunachal Pradesh said, "#IndianArmy rescued its JCO, Nb Sub Konsam Kheda Singh, of Charangpat Mamang Leikai, Thoubal, #Manipur, abducted this morning, while on leave. The @manipur_police is investigating the case."

The army man's kidnapping was the fourth such incident in the state since May 2023 when ethnic violence began in the border state.

In September 2023, a former Assam Regiment soldier Serto Thangthang Kom was kidnapped and killed by an unidentified armed group. He was posted in Manipur's Leimakhong with the Defence Service Corps (DSC).

Two months later, an unidentified armed group kidnapped four people while they were travelling in an SUV from Churachandpur to Leimakhong, and killed them. The four were family members of an Indian Army soldier serving in Jammu and Kashmir. A fifth passenger, the father of the soldier, who was injured, managed to escape and was later airlifted by the army to Dimapur and was eventually shifted to the base hospital in Guwahati for treatment.

In another case, an Additional Superintendent of Police was briefly kidnapped in Imphal on February 27. The attackers were identified as Arambai Tenggol by the police. Following the incident, Manipur Police commandos held a symbolic "arms down" protest in the state.