In June 2024, an unnamed individual or individuals created an audio recording of an alleged closed-door conversation between N. Biren Singh – the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Manipur – and his associates, and leaked it to the government-appointed Commission of Inquiry for Manipur Violence. In it, Singh is heard taking responsibility for starting the "war", a reference to the still-ongoing ethnic conflict that had erupted in the state in 2023 between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.Manipur Tapes: Supreme Court Says 'Little Disturbed' That Full Audio Not Sent To Lab, Asks Govt to Reply, The Wire, 16 December 2025. "KOHUR had petitioned the apex court to probe the audio tapes, believed to be from 2023, in which a voice sounding like N. Biren Singh could be heard claiming to be behind the breakout of ethnic violence..." (emphasis added) In August 2024, clips from the recording were circulated on social media and went viral, becoming known as the Manipur tapes. The Kuki Students' Organisation shared a transcript of excerpts from the recording in a press release, and the news portal The Wire published a series of articles about the tapes.
The Government of Manipur responded to the audio clips on social media, claiming that they were "doctored" and threatening that those involved in their circulation would be "prosecuted under relevant provisions of law". The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights submitted transcripts of the tapes to the Supreme Court-appointed investigating officer and the National Human Rights Commission, urging an investigation of Singh. Subsequently, in October 2024, it filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India asking for a court-monitored investigation.Manipur conflict: Kuki human rights body seeks court-monitored SIT probe into leaked audio tapes purported to be of CM N. Biren Singh, The Hindu, 23 October 2024. After an initial hearing on 8 November,Krishnadas Rajagopal, Submit tapes on Manipur CM Biren Singh's 'role' in riots, Supreme Court tells Kuki group, The Hindu, Updated 9 November 2024. it submitted a forensic report from Truth Labs, which assessed that the voice in the recording belonged to Singh with 93% certainty.Abhinay Lakshman, 93% probability that voice in leaked audio is of Manipur CM: Truth Labs, The Hindu, 4 February 2025.Analysis of Independent Forensic Report on 'Manipur Tapes', Newsreel Asia, 4 February 2025. Five days later, Singh resigned as chief minister, and the state was put under President's rule. Even after year's worth of proceedings in the Supreme Court, no progress has been made in the case, as the government, while objecting to the Truth Labs as a "private organisation", refrained from getting the audio recording analysed in its own laboratories. Biren Singh has not commented on the matter, saying that it was sub judice.
Context
On 3 May 2023, after a protest rally in Churachandpur Town by Kuki-Zo tribals against a Meitei demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities erupted near the border between Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts. It quickly spiralled out of control, with 77 Kuki and 10 Meitei people killed within a week and over 60,000 displaced.Krishn Kaushik, Bunkers, sniper rifles: Deepening sectarian war in India dents Modi's image, Reuters, 28 July 2023. The entire Kuki-Zo population living in the central valley was evicted from their homes, and all Meitei people living in Kuki-dominated hill districts were likewise displaced, resulting in a complete partition of the state along communal lines.
According to the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights (KOHUR), the violence was started at the behest of Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who belongs to the majority Meitei community. The organisation states that on the same day as the tribal rally, talks were ongoing between the Kuki-Zo militant groups under Suspension of Operations ("SoO groups") and the Union government. The talks arrived at an agreement, which was to be finalised on 8 May 2023. Upon hearing the outcome, KOHUR's sources said that Singh became furious and told his associates that he was going to start a war against the Kukis.
Throughout the 20-month-long conflict, state complicity was widely alleged.PTI, Fresh violence erupts as houses set ablaze in Manipur , Nagaland Post, 16 June 2023.Kaushik Deka, From the India Today archives (2023) | N. Biren Singh and the big Manipur blunders, India Today, 7 August 2023. Updated 10 February 2025.John Simte, Manipur: The '900 Kuki Militants' Mystery and Withdrawn 'Intelligence', The Quint, 28 September 2024. Armed militias Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun launched attacks on Kuki-Zo people; according to All India Lawyers Association For Justice, they did so with impunity under state patronage.Manipur CM Biren Singh has spat with Kuki users on Twitter, then deletes messages, Scroll.in, 1 July 2023.Voice clip of Brinda on Arambai Tenggol role in ongoing Manipur crisis went viral, made to clarify later, The Hills Journal, 4 October 2023. The state police were seen to be acting as an 'ethnic army', using state resources against the Kuki-Zo people.Arunabh Saikia, Inside Manipur's new battleground: The border outpost of Moreh, Scroll.in, 31 January 2024. Biren Singh himself launched a no-holds-barred campaign against the Kuki-Zo people, accusing them of "drug trafficking", "poppy cultivation", "forest encroachment" and harbouring "illegal immigrants" from Myanmar.Sangmuan Hangsing, Tawna Valte, Manipur | Is the Legislative Assembly Even Trying for Peaceable Reconciliation?, The Quint, 29 March 2024.Lalmin Kipgen, Disinformation as a Tool in Manipur Conflict, The Shillong Times, 16 June 2023.Over 5,000 illegal Myanmar immigrants in Manipur's Kamjong district, says CM Biren Singh, The Indian Express, 12 May 2024.
In August 2024, more than a year after the start of the violence, the Manipur tapes came to light in the form of audio clips circulated on social media. On 7 August, the Kuki Students' Organisation announced that it had the full audio recording, which contained numerous incriminating statements by Singh.Manipur Police says Probing 'Doctored Audio of CM N Biren,' Warns of Legal Action for Conspiracy; KSO issues statement, Ukhrul Times, 8 August 2024. It also shared a transcript of excerpts from the recording. On 19 August, the news website The Wire published a series of articles covering highlights from the recording, while also revealing that the full recording had been submitted by the sources to the government-appointed Ajay Lamba Commission in June 2024. The sources also submitted an affidavit attesting to its authenticity but requested protection and anonymity. The date of the recording and all other potentially identifying information were kept confidential.
Contents of the tapes The audio recording is reported to be 48 minutes long and purported to contain conversations of Biren Singh with his associates in a closed-door meeting at the Singh's official residence.Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, Manipur Tapes: 'Amit Shah Called Me, He Wanted NIA to Arrest 5 Persons, I Didn't Reply at First, They Finally Got Only Two', The Wire, 1 October 2024. The conversations are in the Meitei language with some parts in Hindi. The Wire said that it confirmed the date, subject and contents of the meeting with the meeting participants, who remain anonymous.Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, 'I Started Operations': Biren Singh Allegedly Claims Credit for Conflict, 'Kukis Filling Up Govt Posts Through ST Quota', The Wire, 19 August 2024.
In one section of the tape, Singh is heard claiming credit for the conflict. The voice claims to have studied "all of these [issues]" (concerning land in the state) for the past 10–15 years and "when I saw all of these, I started operations". Singh had previously alleged that the number of Kuki villages had grown enormously over a 15-year period.Ritika Chopra, 'Morning, night, 12, 1... I am in touch with Amit Shahji... He backs balance, Meiteis, Kukis ko same tarah se deal karna hai': Manipur CM N Biren Singh, The Indian Express, 10 October 2023. Here the voice adds that Naga villages had not grown in the same fashion and quips, "Haven't you seen on the map? Don't you feel like crying?". It further claims, "We started seeking governmental [rights] over reserved forest land [and] protected forest land." The speaker also alleges that the Kukis were occupying too many civil service posts enabled by job reservations available to Scheduled Tribes, again exempting the Nagas from this alleged appropriation. Kukis were also blamed for growing through Imphal city by establishing colonies in a manner dissimilar to the Nagas. The Wire noted that Kuki residential colonies in Imphal were attacked by mobs in May 2023, leading to a substantial death toll among the Kukis.
In another section of the tape, the alleged voice of Biren Singh claims to have used bombs to prosecute the said "war". It also implies that the Union home minister Amit Shah was aware of this fact. During his visit to the state in May 2023, Shah is said to have warned the speaker as well as the DGP not to use bombs. But after Shah left, the speaker claims to have told his people to use the bombs covertly rather than openly. The speaker also claims credit for the looting of 4,000–5,000 weapons from the police armouries and the fact that no one has been arrested for the act. It says, "if they arrest, it, the CM, will be the first. It is me who will be arrested for the snatching away of the 4000–5000 guns." The speaker is also heard saying that he would ensure arms supply and that, if the state police arrest anyone, he "will handle it".
The speaker was also aware of resentment he was facing from the Kukis. "Kukis will scold me, abuse me... why won't they? I have destroyed a lot..." He also admits that their casualties are "a bit high", around 300 deaths. Yet the speaker also displays clear enmity towards the Kukis: "If I was not CM, I would have shelled bombs."
In yet another section of the tape, the recorded voice talks about the naked parade incident from the Manipur viral video. It makes light of the crime against the two women who were sexually assaulted and berates the Meitei civil society organisations for not taking credit: "it is we, the Meiteis who saved them from the mob". It asserts that the Meitei community was very badly shamed by the episode, but that it failed to claim credit for saving the women, clothing them and sending them home, ignoring the fact that their male relatives had not been spared by the mob.Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, 'Where's the Proof They Were Raped?', Biren Allegedly Says of Kuki Women Paraded Naked, 'Reward Those Arrested for Saving Them', The Wire, 19 August 2024. The recording makes it clear that the speaker was opposed to taking action against the perpetrators of the crime: "I told those people [...] that those people arrested should instead be rewarded. Rewarded for saving them". The Wire stated that the Singh had made similar statements in public.
The Wire commented that the statements as recorded were communally divisive and inflammatory. They also raised fundamental concerns about the ruling dispensation in the state.
Attempts of suppression and diversion