Manipur: Internet Suspended in Five Districts for Three Days After Attack on Civilian House Sparks Protests
New Delhi: The Manipur government has suspended internet and mobile data services in Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur districts for three days after a suspected rocket attack targeted a civilian house early Tuesday (April 7) in Bishnupur, killing two children and injuring their mother. The incident, allegedly carried out by Kuki militants, triggered panic and led to protests across the district.
“In view of the prevailing law and order situation in five districts of Manipur viz, Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur, there exists apprehension that some anti-social elements might use social media for transmission of images, hate speech and hat video messages inciting the public which might have serious repercussions on the law and order in the State of Manipur,” read the order by the state’s home department.
“It has become necessary,” the order said, to take preventive measures in public interest “by stopping the spread of disinformation and false rumours” through various social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Government of Manipur has ordered a temporary suspension of internet and mobile data services in Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur districts for 3 days with immediate effect in view of the prevailing law and order situation. pic.twitter.com/0oPDlqAPp7
— ANI (@ANI) April 7, 2026
Officials have also imposed a curfew in four valley districts of Manipur.
According to reports, around 1 AM, a civilian house in Moirang Tronglaobi area of Bishnupur district was hit by an explosive device, killing a 5-year-old boy and a six-month-old girl. Their mother, who sustained injuries in the suspected attack, was admitted to a hospital in Imphal. They were all sleeping in their room when the explosion hit the house.
By morning, locals staged a protest and torched two oil tankers and a truck near a petrol pump in the area. They burnt tyres in front of Moirang Police Station and destroyed a makeshift police outpost.
Officials said that a mob also vandalised a central force camp in the Bishnupur district and injured at least four people in the ensuing gunfire. Security forces were subsequently deployed in the area.
A curfew was already clamped in Bishnupur earlier today. However, the government soon ordered to temporarily shut down internet services in five districts “to maintain peace and communal harmony” in the state.
Manipur chief minister Yumnam Khemchand called the suspected attack “barbaric” and “cowardly” and said that his “government will hunt down the perpetrators involved in the heinous crime and justice will be delivered at the earliest”. According to PTI, the government has handed over the probe into the attack to National Investigative Agency.
The state has witnessed a series of internet shutdowns in the nearly three years of ethnic violence. The first shutdown was imposed on May 3. This suspension lasted more than 200 days, making it one of the longest in India, after Jammu and Kashmir.
Subsequently, authorities re-imposed temporary internet bans in 2023, 2024 and 2025 in response to sporadic incidents of violence.
In February this year, internet services were suspended in the Ukhrul district for five days following violence between two tribal groups, Kuki-Zos and Nagas.
According to an internet shutdown tracker by Software Freedom Law Center India, in total, there were 36 shutdowns in 2023, 11 in 2024, one in 2025 and two in 2026 so far in Manipur.
These disruptions have had profound socio-economic, political, and legal implications, affecting millions of citizens, businesses, and essential services, including even digital banking services.
Moirang Tronglaobi, located along the politically-volatile hill-valley boundary, is adjacent to Churachandpur district, where the ethnic violence between the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi hill tribes and the Meitei community has been most intense since it began in 2023.
The village had also witnessed a similar attack in September 2024 in which an explosive fell on the compound of former chief minister Mairembam Koireng's residence, killing an elderly man and injuring five others.
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