An underground group active in Manipur, the KCP(PWG) MC Unification, has publicly rejected this week’s surrender ceremony in Imphal, denying that any of the 46 people who laid down arms before the state government belonged to its ranks.

The ceremony, held on July 21 at Mantripukhri Garrison, headquarters of the Assam Rifles’ Inspector General (South), was presented by the state government as a counter-insurgency success. Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh received the surrendering group in person as it handed over 28 weapons, including AK-series and INSAS rifles, self-loading rifles, .303 rifles, carbines, pistols, shotguns and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

Two days later, KCP(PWG) MC Unification issued a statement through a spokesperson identified as Chingkheinganba, describing the event as a “fake surrender drama” staged to damage the outfit’s image. The group, which says it is led by chairman Lamyanba Khuman and vice-chairman Poirei Meitei and has for years fought for what it calls the independence of Kangleipak (Manipur), insisted that none of its actual cadres took part. It further alleged, without offering supporting evidence, that Assam Rifles had supplied both the uniforms worn at the ceremony and the weapons put on display, and separately claimed that some of the firearms had been bought “from Kukis.” It also disowned Laishram Ranjit, who had presented himself during the ceremony as the outfit’s chairman, saying he and three others it named had already been expelled from the organisation for “anti-social and anti-party activities.”

It is not the first time a surrender or “homecoming” ceremony in Manipur has drawn this kind of rebuttal. Insurgent groups have periodically accused security agencies of stage-managing such events using civilians rather than genuine fighters, allegations authorities have generally not addressed point by point in public.

Neither the Manipur government nor Assam Rifles had issued a public response to the outfit’s specific allegations at the time of writing. Sentinel NE could not independently verify the identities of those who took part in the July 21 ceremony, nor any of the claims made in KCP(PWG) MC Unification’s statement, including the allegations involving Assam Rifles and Kuki groups.