Part of the Manipur Crisis Chronicle. Every claim carries a cited source; contested numbers are shown with their dates, never merged. This installment covers September 2026 — as of September 26; the month's closing days will be backfilled by the next run.
The Centre formalised what the August cusp had only announced. An official notification dated September 5, 2026 amended the January 7, 2026 directive and excluded Manipur from the nationwide Census-2027 houselisting effort, inserting the phrase "(except the State of Manipur till further declaration)" after "in all States and Union Territories in India".[482] The deferral is open-ended — no revised date attached.[482]
The decision rested on a high-level meeting in New Delhi on August 31 attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh and Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan.[488] The same day the High Court of Manipur passed an order deferring the census exercise in the State "until further orders".[488]
The notification was the first act; the demand behind it was the second. On September 3 the Manipur Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Government of India to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.[482] The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) had already refused to treat the deferral as sufficient, going ahead with its announced 24-hour general strike from the midnight of August 31; its organisation secretary Longjam Ratankumar said the strike was compelled because the Government of India had failed to give a concrete assurance to update the NRC.[488]
The Naga legislative bloc withdrew from the machinery in the first week. On September 7 nine Naga legislators abstained from Manipur Assembly proceedings in protest over the killing of the six Nagas, pressing for action against Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen and calling her husband the prime accused.[487] Naga People's Front chief Awangbou Newmai announced the abstention hours before the proceedings.[487] Deputy Chief Minister Losii Dikho then said he would not attend the Cabinet meeting until justice is delivered, describing his abstention as taken in accordance with the collective wishes and understanding of the Naga Legislators' Forum.[485]
Dikho's statement is the month's sharpest charged sentence: the person who had sworn "to protect the Constitution, the rule of law and the security of innocent citizens" had, in his telling, breached all this "by sharing all state secrets and colluding with her husband Thangboi Kipgen, who is the head of the Militant group Kuki National Front (KNF-P)".[485]
The September 3 Assembly session also produced the official ledger on the six-Naga case: Home Minister Konthoujam Govindas said four suspects had been arrested, four more identified and still on the run, the accused police constable cleared (records showed him on duty), and current NIA findings had not confirmed links to KNF-P.[475] On September 9 Manipur Police suspended a serving Kuki police personnel, Thangginlian Vaiphei, for his alleged involvement in the case, ordering a departmental enquiry; a PIL by advocate Mark Khapai alleged that a woman among the abducted had identified him as one of those who detained them.[487]
The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body, intensified its inter-district economic blockade from 1 a.m. on September 9, following its Emergency Presidential Council meeting in Ukhrul on September 2.[480] The "indefinite" blockade covers NH-2 (Imphal-Dimapur), NH-202, NH-37 and NH-102A; vehicles carrying essential supplies and services are exempted.[480] The UNC's stated justification: the government failed to deliver justice to the families of the six Liangmai Naga civilians abducted from Leilon Vaiphei village on May 13 and killed, and it demands the removal of Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen, "accused of hobnobbing with Kuki armed groups".[480] The blockade threatens the Imphal-Guwahati public transport services via NH-2, resumed in August after more than three years.[480]
Manipur's Home Minister Konthoujam Govindas told the House that the ethnic clashes, "including the one between the Kukis and Nagas since February, claimed at least 306 lives".[480] Read together with the officials' line of September 21 — that "more than 40 people have been killed since clashes broke out between Naga and Kuki communities in February" — this marks a measurement domain separate from the 260+ toll of the Meitei–Kuki-Zo conflict carried in earlier installments: the Naga–Kuki axis, counted on its own clock, never merged here.[479][486]
On September 21 a 17-year-old Liangmai Naga student, NK Wiphenbou, was shot dead in Tamenglong district. The two first-hand accounts differ in time and road, and this chronicle does not merge them: police told PTI he was walking alone from Upper Nkou village to Tamei town and was attacked around 10.30 am, while the New Indian Express reported him killed "around 10:05 am ... between Upper Takou and Malek village".[479][481] The Working Committee of the Joint Tribes Council Manipur named the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), KNF(P) and KNF(N); the UNC condemned a "cold-blooded murder by Kuki militants", and WC-JTCM called the SoO framework a "charade ... if it only serves to provide impunity to terrorists".[481] No official attribution had been published by month's close.[479]
The week's flashpoint arrived hours before the killing. Seven Kuki villagers detained by the CRPF near Kholen village in Kangpokpi district were released late on Saturday (September 19) night after a mob chased security vehicles, pelted stones and dug up a national highway.[481] Naga bodies read the release as a "blatant betrayal of the Naga people and a criminal abetment of terrorism", and a sit-in in Imphal demanded their re-arrest.[481] Kuki Inpi Manipur read the same event oppositely — an "arbitrary arrest" of villagers including a Church leader, at an "excruciating moment" after killings of Kuki villagers it attributed to NSCN (IM); attributed as perception, not fact, on this chronicle's rule.[unverified]
The Supreme Court's September 17 hearing updated the justice backlog: 42 SITs across eight districts investigating 3,020 cases — 302 chargesheets, 1,583 closure reports, 1,135 cases still under investigation, trials begun in 33.[483] 2,924 witnesses were yet to be examined.[483] In the CBI docket, 978 witnesses had been cited but only six examined, and advocate Nizamuddin Pasha told the Court the Special CBI Court in Guwahati was sitting only two days a week; the Bench discussed whether additional courts could be created.[483] The August 10 request to constitute exclusive CBI/NIA courts had not produced new courts by this hearing — the month's starkest ratio is the docket itself: 33 trials against 3,020 cases.[483]
[475] "Imphal: Four suspects have been arrested for the abduction and brutal killing of six Naga civilians in Leilon Vaiphei, Manipur, Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam told the Assembly on Thursday.""The identities of another four individuals involved in the brutal murder case have been identified, and they are still on the run.""The Home Minister clarified that the accused police constable was cleared of involvement, with records proving he was on official duty during the incident. Regarding the KNF-P leadership, Konthoujam stated that current NIA findings have not confirmed any links to the militant group.""The case stems from the May 13, 2026 incident in which 18 Liangmai Naga civilians returning from a wedding were abducted; 12 were freed, but six were later found dead."
[479] "A teen was shot dead by suspected militants in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on Monday (September 21, 2026), police said. The Naga youth, identified as NK Wiphenbou (17), was walking alone from Upper Nkou village to Tamei town when he was attacked around 10.30 am.""More than 40 people have been killed since clashes broke out between Naga and Kuki communities in February, officials said"
[480] "The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of Naga communities in Manipur, on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) said it would intensify its inter-district economic blockade on major National Highways across the State from 1 a.m. on Wednesday (September 9, 2026).""Manipur’s Home Minister Konthoujam Govindas told the House recently that the ethnic clashes, including the one between the Kukis and Nagas since February, claimed at least 306 lives.""According to a statement issued by UNC spokesperson H. James Hau, the “indefinite” blockade will cover National Highway-2 (Imphal-Dimapur), NH-202 (Imphal-Ukhrul-Jessami), NH-37 (Imphal-Jiribam), and NH-102A (Tadubi-Ukhrul)."
[481] "A 17-year-old Naga student, identified as NK Wiphenbou from the Liangmai Naga community, was shot dead allegedly by Kuki rebels around 10:05 am on Monday between Upper Takou and Malek village in Manipur’s Tamenglong district, amid continued violence in the state.""The CRPF released the seven on Saturday night after their detention had sparked violent protests in the Kangpokpi district. A mob chased security vehicles, pelted stones at them and also dug a national highway to prevent their movement.""It viewed this act as a “blatant betrayal of the Naga people and a criminal abetment of terrorism.”"
[482] "The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has announced the deferral of houselisting operations for Census 2027 in the state of Manipur until further notification.""The amended notification specifically excludes Manipur from the nationwide houselisting efforts, inserting the phrase “(except the State of Manipur till further declaration)” after the words “in all States and Union Territories in India.”""On September 3, the Manipur Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Government of India to update the NRC in the state."
[483] "At the Supreme Court’s September 17, 2026 hearing , Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the Bench that 42 SITs across eight districts were investigating 3,020 cases .""Chargesheets had been filed in 302 cases , closure reports in 1,583 , while 1,135 cases remained under investigation .""The Court was told that trials had commenced in 33 cases .""The status report also said that 2,924 witnesses were yet to be examined .""Across the CBI cases, 978 witnesses had been cited, but only six had been examined by the time of the September hearing."
[485] "Deputy CM Dikho has clarified that he decided to abstain from attending the Cabinet Meeting in accordance with the collective wishes and understanding of the Naga Legislators’ Forum.""“As justice is still denied and the Naga people continue to bear the brunt of the violence from the Kuki Militants led by self-styled Gen 'Tiger' Kipgen (husband of Nemcha Kipgen), the mastermind who perpetrated the killing and mutilation of the six innocent Naga citizens whose bodies are still lying unclaimed in the morgue,” he stated.""They specifically sought the arrest of Thangboi Kipgen of the Kuki National Front (KNF-P) outfit, alleging that cadres of the group, led by a self-styled “Gen Tiger” Kipgen, were responsible for the killings."
[486] "More than 40 people have been killed since clashes broke out between Naga and Kuki communities in February, officials said.""Earlier this month, two women belonging to the Kuki community were gunned down allegedly by cadres of a Naga armed group at Leisangphai in Jiribam district.""The victims were identified as Chonga Sitlhou, 60, and Ng. Kimneo Singson, 28."
[487] "Manipur Police have suspended a serving Kuki police personnel, identified as Thangginlian Vaiphei, for his alleged involvement in the killing of six Naga civilians whose mutilated bodies were recovered on June 10, and ordered a departmental enquiry against him.""His suspension came days after Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam denied the involvement of any police personnel in the abduction and murder of the six Naga civilians during the Assembly session on September 3"
[488] "Notably, a high-level meeting held today at New Delhi with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand and Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan decided to defer census operations in Manipur.""Moreover the High Court of Manipur today passed an order whereby census exercise in the State was deferred until further orders."