Karbi Anglong Police in Assam have arrested six suspects in connection with the abduction and killing of Thadou tribe leader Nehkam Jomhao, 59, chairman of the Thadou Literature Society.

According to police, armed Kuki militants allegedly abducted Jomhao from his residence in Chonghang Veng, Manja, Karbi Anglong, around 7:30 pm on August 30. The accused reportedly confessed to murdering him and dumping his body in the Jamuna River under Manja police station’s jurisdiction. Despite intensive search operations by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the body has not yet been recovered due to heavy rains swelling the river.

Police confirmed the arrests on Sunday, while noting that the exact motive behind the killing is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, Thadou civil society organisations and student bodies have strongly condemned the incident, alleging that “Kuki militants and supremacists” targeted Jomhao to suppress the Thadou community’s assertion of its distinct identity and to derail peace efforts in neighbouring Manipur, where the Meitei and Kuki communities have been in conflict since May 2023.

The Thadou Students’ Association-General Headquarters (TSA-GHQ) further claimed that Jomhao was killed for his role in the August 6 Peace Meeting in Imphal, where he sought to build ties between the Thadou and Meitei communities. His peace initiatives, they alleged, made him a target for groups opposed to reconciliation.