New Delhi: Manipur home minister Govindas Konthoujam has said that at present at least 38 people from the Kuki and Naga communities are being held hostage by different groups, reported The Hindu.“We have reports that more than 38 people from both communities have been held hostage by different groups. We are working with civil society organisations and political leaders to secure their release,” Konthoujam told reporters on Thursday (May 14).On the other hand, some organisations have claimed that 43 people have been either detained or abducted by various groups. Deputy chief minister Losii Dikho claimed that at least 44 persons have been abducted, including an infant and two Naga Catholic trainee priests.At present, tensions in the strife-torn state have deepened after the killing of three tribal church leaders on May 13 just days before chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh is scheduled to visit Churachandpur.The May 13 attack took place when leaders of the Thadou Baptist Association of India (TBAI) and the United Baptist Council (UBC) were returning from a Baptist convention in Churachandpur to Kangpokpi district. According to survivors, unidentified gunmen opened fire on their two vehicles between Kotlen and Kotzim villages, at around 10 am.On Thursday, home minister Konthoujam visited the family of Wilson Thanga, who was killed in Noney. The minister also visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal, where Thanga’s body had been kept for autopsy. Three Naga MLAs accompanied him.Deputy chief minister Dikho, who is leading the negotiations on behalf of the state government for the release of those abducted told The Hindu that the killing of the church leaders was “unprecedented” and such attacks did not occur even at the height of previous conflicts.He added that talks were ongoing with Kuki and Naga groups till late on Thursday and efforts were on to find an amicable solution.