Months before his death, Manipur MLA wrote to PM, sought probe on mob attack

Five months before his death, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Manipur, Vungzagin Valte, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi detailing how he was brutally attacked by the “Meitei militia [Arambai Tenggol]”.

Valte had said that the attack left him with severe injuries that paralysed him, and despite the gravity of the incident, no special inquiry, either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA), was ever initiated.

Kuki-Zo MLA Vungzagin Valte, attacked by mob in 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur, dies in Gurugram hospital

The letter was sent on September 13, 2025, when Mr. Modi made his maiden visit to Manipur after the ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023. Arambai Tenggol, a relatively new radical Meitei armed group, gained notoriety after the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities started.

Valte, who never recovered from the life-threatening injuries after being assaulted by a mob on May 4, 2023, passed away at a private hospital in Gurugram, Haryana, on Friday (February 20, 2026). “The arrest may take time as he was attacked by a mob. We are pursuing all leads,” Losii Dikho, Deputy Chief Minister, Manipur told The Hindu.