Manipur: ED Raids 'State Council' Associates; Bishnupur Security Beefed Up After 'Firing'
New Delhi: On December 17, 2025, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly conducted coordinated raids at multiple locations in Imphal, Manipur, targeting properties linked to leaders of a self-styled 'Manipur State Council' and associated companies.
The raids, coming amid the region’s fraught political landscape, relate to allegations of money laundering and "acts prejudicial to national integrity", the Tribune reported.
The ED has identified key figures including Yambem Biren – described as a self-declared “chief minister” – and Narengbam Samarjit, who called himself “external affairs and defence minister” of the council. The two also founded a concern named the Salai Group of Companies.
The ED alleges that over Rs 57 crore was collected from the public through fraudulent schemes operating under companies and societies linked to the Salai Group, Northeast Now reported.
According to ED officials, Biren and Samarjit collected deposits through "illegal financial entities", the Hindustan Times reported. They did so under the guise of gathering membership fees, promising the public returns without regulatory approval to do so.
The funds they raised were allegedly diverted into the personal accounts of the directors and other entities within the Salai Group.
In addition to the financial offences, the case carries a political dimension: in 2019, Biren and Samarjit held a press conference in London, United Kingdom, publicly declaring Manipur’s "independence" from India, an act considered seditious and prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the state.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have already registered separate cases in this regard, various papers including NE Now reported. Their statements from 2019, along with the financial allegations, have led the ED to step up its already ongoing probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 into the Salai Group and its founders.
Searches were conducted at five locations linked to the main accused on December 17. No official statements on arrests or seizures have been confirmed so far.
In the meantime, reports on Tuesday night claimed suspected militants fired weapons in Bishnupur, Manipur, though no injuries have been reported. The Economic Times reported on Wednesday evening that the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) possibly triggered the firing.
More than 380 IDPs returned to Bishnupur on Tuesday, The Hindu reported on December 17.
Bishnupur is located in Manipur's foothills, not far from Churachandpur district, where a clash had first occurred on May 3, 2023, before ethnic violence spread to Imphal and other areas. Reports said additional forces have been deployed amid tensions.
The Assam Tribune reported that tensions in the Bishnupur area escalated after the firing incident, leading families to flee. The firing on Tuesday took place in areas that were badly affected during the 2023 unrest.
A day earlier, on December 16, 2025, the Union government gave a fresh extension to the Commission of Inquiry probing the 2023 violence in Manipur. The Hindu reported, citing agencies, that the three-member panel headed by former chief justice of Gauhati High Court Ajai Lamba and including retired IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and retired IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar, now has until May 20, 2026 to submit its report.
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