Locals suspect detention as missing woman found
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 27 2026:
A 26-year-old woman who had gone missing after heading towards Sangaithel Maning Ching, was found today.
Thambal, (not her real name) had reportedly gone missing after leaving her house near Sangaithel Ching Maning at around 7.30 am on August 25 .
Since then, a large number of personnel from the Central and State forces, along with local civilians, had been conducting search operations to trace her.
Sangaithel is among the areas severely affected by the ongoing crisis in Manipur.
Although Thambal was found today, local residents have expressed suspicion over the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the manner in which she was found.
Some local acquaintances of Thambal said some people had reported seeing her heading towards Khoken, an abandoned village.
Acting on the information, a search operation was launched around 10 am on August 25, the day she went missing, with search dogs and drones deployed.
The search initially focused on villages that were formerly inhabited by Kuki people, but Thambal could not be found there, they said.
However, Thambal was found walking today at a location around 1 km from her house near Khoken village, an area that had already been searched repeatedly by security forces and the civilians, they added.
Questioning how Thambal could be found walking in an area that had been searched repeatedly over the past two days, they expressed suspicion that she might have been detained and kept somewhere by some people before being released.
They further claimed that Thambal's modesty might have been outraged during her alleged detention, taking advantage of her mental health condition.
They also claimed that Thambal behaved strangely after she was found and appeared uncomfortable when she heard the name of a particular security force.
They further alleged that Thambal repeatedly complained of pain in her chest, knees and other parts of her body.
They claimed that during the search operation, a particular Central force did not follow the lead provided by the search dogs.
According to them, Thambal was found today after local residents decided to search an area which they alleged had been declared off-limits by the Central forces.
This led to suspicions among the locals that she might have been released after being detained somewhere.
Saying that Thambal might have been detained and her modesty outraged, they added that the circumstances in which she was found did not suggest that she had spent two days in the hills.
They further pointed out that her clothes did not show any signs of exposure to dew, which, they claimed, raised the possibility that she had been detained somewhere.
They urged the Government to investigate whether Thambal had been detained, so as to allay the doubts and concerns of the people.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Thambal underwent a medical examination at RIMS .
However, the examination was reportedly delayed for several hours as she was allegedly running around intermittently.
As of now, there is reportedly no information on whether forensic experts have collected Thambal's clothes for examination.
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