Two Meitei men who were allegedly abducted by suspected Kuki militants on Friday have appealed to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to secure their release, The Hindu reported.

On Sunday, a video was widely shared on social media in which one of the men can be heard urging the chief minister to agree to the demands of their alleged abductors to rescue them. They did not mention what the demands were.

However, unidentified officials told the Hindustan Times that the demand from the state government was the release of Kuki activist Mark T Haokip, who was held on charges of secessionism in 2022.

On Friday, three men – Ningombam Johnson Singh, Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Thokchom Thoithoiba Singh – were reported missing after they left their homes in Imphal valley’s Thoubal district for taking part in an Army recruitment event in Imphal West’s New Keithelmanbi.

They were caught by suspected Kuki militants while on their way. Ningombam Johnson Singh managed to escape from the abductors, The Hindu reported.

According to him, the three men, who were on a two-wheeler, had mistakenly reached Keithelmanbi instead of New Keithelmanbi where they were allegedly abducted.

Keithelmanbi is situated in the foothills and in the buffer zone between the Meitei and Kuki-dominated areas of the state.

Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities since May 2023. At least 237 persons have died and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the beginning of the clashes.

After the video emerged on Sunday, the chief minister said that he had held a meeting with state legislators to resolve the situation.

“We condemn such heinous acts and our government is working to secure the safe release of the victims,” N Biren Singh said on social media.

The Manipur Police said that security forces were “making all out efforts to rescue the missing/kidnapped youths as quickly as possible”.

Senior police officers were monitoring the situation, the police said.

The Kuki militants have made several demands. Besides the release of Haokip, who is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency, they also want all Kuki inmates of the Sajiwa jail in Imphal to be shifted to the Churachandpur Jail, a senior Assam Rifles official told Scroll.

Haokip was arrested by the Manipur Police in Delhi on May 22, 2022. He was booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act pertaining to conspiracy for secession from India and attempting to wage war against the Union government through an organisation named the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Kukiland.

The negotiations for the release of the two men were taking place through the Assam Rifles, the Central Reserve Police Force and Kuki civil society organisations, the official told the newspaper.

“It’s unclear where the two Meitei men are being held,” the official said. “The CSOs [civil society organisations] deny knowledge of the location but say they can send human couriers to and from where the militants are placing their demands.”

On Monday, the chief minister told reporters that he was sending the director general of police to the district to hold talks with the alleged abductors and secure the release of the two men.

Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the MP from Inner Manipur constituency, said on Sunday that holding innocent citizens as hostages and “making them appeal via the media to fulfil the demand(s) of the abductors is an act of terror”.

Also read: The arrest of an activist in Manipur has resurfaced ethnic tensions