In Rare Moment, Members Of Meitei-Kuki Communities Hug As 2 Hostages Freed

Two men from the Meitei community who were taken hostage after they entered a village dominated by the Kuki tribes following wrong directions on Google Maps on September 27 were released this morning. A Kuki civil society group based in Kangpokpi district, which negotiated with the government as the authorities worked to free the two men, shared visuals of the handover showing - for the first time - people from the Kuki tribes and the Meitei community hugging and shaking hands as the ethnic tension entered the 17th month. The two men from the Meitei community, Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Thokchom Thoithoiba Singh, were handed over to a senior police officer by the Kuki civil society group Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) in Kangpokpi's Gamgiphai area.