WARNING: This video contains very distressing images.

Human rights activists in India - on behalf of the country’s Supreme Court - are investigating more than 1,500 alleged unlawful killings.

Last year the court took the unprecedented step of empowering civilian investigators in the north-eastern state of Manipur where the Indian army and police have been fighting an insurgency for four decades.

Later this month the judges are expected to order a full investigation based on the activists’ findings which could lead to prosecutions.

Counting the dead in Manipur's shoot-to-kill war

Filmed and edited by Varun Nayar and Kunal Sehgal. Interviews by Soutik Biswas.