Exclusive: Did Agencies Overlook Drone Concerns In Manipur Twice? Letters Show...

The Manipur Chief Minister's office had on two occasions raised concerns over the likelihood of weaponised drone attacks in the state, two letters sent by the Chief Minister's secretaries to the police chief and security agencies in the last seven months show.

Two people were killed and nine were injured in firing and drone attacks by suspected Kuki insurgents in Manipur on Sunday, the police and the state home department had said in separate statements.

It was the first recorded use of weaponised drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.

On Monday, another drone dropped two bombs in Imphal West district's Senjam Chirang, leaving three injured, the police said. The bombs tore through the roof of a house, visuals taken by the police show.

In the first letter addressed to the Manipur Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Singh on January 12, the Chief Minister's secretary N Geoffrey requested the police chief to ensure protection from aerial threats to recruits of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) who were scheduled to go to Assam by road for training. The road journey would have taken over 15 hours with stops. The Chief Minister's secretary also asked the DGP to inform the 22 Assam Rifles and other central forces about the letter requesting protection from aerial threats.

"... DGP, Manipur is requested to take all possible security measures for ensuring foolproof security for movement and transportation of new recruits of 10 IRB, 11 IRB and other personnel in their road journey... including safety from threats from above/overhead, considering wide use of mortar bombs and drones as weapons by militants in the current conflict," Mr Geoffrey said in the letter, which was also marked to the Chief Secretary.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh eventually announced the government had cancelled the plan to send the recruits by road, which passed through narrow hilly turns where the convoy could be ambushed. Over 1,500 IRB and other recruits were eventually airlifted to Assam from the airport in Manipur's capital Imphal on January 15.

In the second letter raising concerns over possible drone attacks, the Chief Minister's office asked the police chief to "take up necessary action" to install anti-drone systems at three important government buildings - the Governor's official residence Raj Bhavan, the Chief Minister's Secretariat, and the assembly secretariat.

"... Reputed firms, capable of taking up this work, may be invited for presentation at an early date," P Gojendro Singh, joint secretary to the Chief Minister, said in the letter on April 3.

NDTV has seen copies of the two letters.

While the Manipur government has formed a multi-agency panel to work out anti-drone strategies, it also plans to request the country's top anti-terror investigator National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take up the case.

Residents Terrorised

In Imphal West's Kadangband, which was attacked on Sunday, residents keep looking at the sky in fear of drone dropping bombs on them.

"Last night here there was a major bomb attack by drones. Three bombs exploded and one did not. The bombs fell close to the police bunker of the 2nd Manipur Rifles. How can one prevent such aerial attacks?" Kadangband resident Sunildro Singh said.

The Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh visited Kadangband and Koutruk, another village in the same district which was attacked with snipers and weaponised drones, on Sunday and Monday. He is overseeing large-scale combing operations in the foothills. He spoke with villagers and assured them of security.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills near the Meitei-dominated valley district Imphal West. The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

"This (drone attack) is a new thing. We are in touch with experts, including the National Security Guards (NSG). We have formed a multi-agency committee to make a plan on countering the drone threat. The experts are coming to Manipur," the DGP said.

"We are conducting operations at the place where the attacks occurred... operations have been conducted yesterday and today and items have been seized. Further combing operations would be conducted," Mr Singh said, adding the state forces alone cannot handle the situation due to not having enough personnel as they have routine law and order duties to look after too, and so help from the central forces is necessary.

Telltale Signs

People familiar with the matter said the telltale signs have been there for a while.

In June this year, a man in Assam was arrested for allegedly sourcing drone parts to supply to a terror group in Manipur's valley areas, sources in the state police's special task force (STF) had said. The STF operatives had recovered a huge stock of drone parts from him.

In the same month, a man who allegedly tried to sneak into Manipur carrying 10 high-end drone batteries for a terror group was also arrested by the Assam STF. A filmmakers' association of the Kuki tribes in Manipur, however, had refuted the allegations against what it called a renowned member of the association, who simply bought the drone batteries for work.

The police had called the arrest a "major breakthrough", pointing at the use of beyond line-of-sight, military-grade drones by armed groups in Manipur amid the Meitei-Kuki ethnic conflict.

In November 2023, the Indian Air Force (IAF) scrambled its Rafale fighter jet to search for an unidentified flying object, suspected to be a large drone, that hovered near Imphal airport. The incident had delayed many commercials flights for over three hours.

Civil Society Groups Ask Questions

Civil society organisations in Imphal valley have raised tough questions to the government over the drone attacks.

"Why is the government not trying to take this war-like situation seriously? Kuki militants are trying to divide the state, so the question is what is the policy in national interest?" said Jeetendra Ningomba, president of the Imphal-based Committee of Civil Societies Kangleipak.

The Meitei Alliance, a global conglomerate of Meitei civil society groups, in a statement said while it appreciated the government and the police talking about taking measures to "hold terrorists accountable", it is "disheartening and deeply worrying that 70,000 central military and paramilitary forces deployed for counter-terrorism have not been able to protect lives, livelihood and properties from Kuki terrorists."

The Meitei Heritage Welfare Foundation in a statement called the drone attacks "a clear act of terror". "The use of drones and sophisticated weapons previously unseen in this conflict demonstrates the militants' intent to inflict maximum harm and terrorise the Meitei population," the civil society group said. "The latest Kuki militants' attack is not an isolated case, but a pattern they have adopted over the last one year to escalate violence, to advance their openly declared goal of breaking up Manipur," it said.

In his first reaction to the incidents that began two days ago, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh today called the attacks "an act of terrorism".

The clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis - a term given by the British in colonial times - who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar's Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.