The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a 21-year-old Manipur native, Rajkumar Mypaksana from Thalassery in connenction with the Manipur riots case.
He was taken in custody at 5 p.m. on Friday (May 16, 2025) while working in a local hotel, where he had taken up a housekeeping job in Thalassery just a few days back.
Mr. Rajkumar, hailing from Imphal, was tracked down by the NIA after days of surveillance. Posing as health officials conducting routine monsoon disease checks, the NIA officers visited workers’ lodgings and demanded identity verification. Mr. Rajkumar was apprehended after his Aadhaar card and a distinctive tattoo on his neck helped confirm his identity.
He is reportedly trained by the proscribed United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a banned militant group, and is related to a case registered in Imphal linked to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur.
Sources said he offered no resistance and complied with officers calmly after realising he had been arrested. The arrest comes after months of investigation by the NIA, which reportedly did not alert the Kerala police prior to the operation. Officials also recovered a fake passport from Rajkumar, which he had allegedly attempted to use to travel abroad via Tirur, but failed.
According to initial investigations, Mr. Rajkumar arrived in Thalassery after responding to a job advertisement by a hotel management on social media. His familiarity with English and Hindi, helped him blend in with the recruitment of several youths from Manipur.
Sources said that Mr. Rajkumar arrived in Kerala last month and had travelled across several district before settling temporarily at a rented house in Manjodi, Thiruvnagad in Thalassery.
The arrest is part of a larger probe into the ethnic violence that rocked Manipur, with the NIA continuing to track individuals linked to extremist outfits. His arrest took place at 5 p.m on Friday.
Published – May 18, 2025 11:55 am IST
