Manipur: Four militants held, 62 arms recovered in separate operations

Imphal, July 8 (IANS) In a series of joint operations in Manipur, the Army and other central and state security forces have arrested four hardcore extremists of different outfits and recovered 62 different types of arms, a large cache of ammunition and other war-like stores from eight districts, officials said on Tuesday.

A Defence spokesman said that the intelligence-based, coordinated joint operations resulted in the arrest of four militants from various hill and Valley-based militant outfits.

He said that the joint operations were conducted during the past few days in the seven valley and hill districts of Jiribam, Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Tengnoupal, Imphal East and Imphal West.

The army during the operations used specialised resources like explosive detection dogs. Army and Assam Rifles formations under the Spear Corps launched a series of operations in coordination with Manipur Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

The weapons recovered in these joint operations include carbines, AK-47 series rifles, self-loading rifles (SLR), three 303 rifles, single and double-barrelled guns, INSAS Rifle, Pompi (improvised mortar) and many pistols, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), grenades, ammunition and war-like stores.

The apprehended militants and the recovered arms, ammunition, explosives and other items have been handed over to Manipur Police. These coordinated efforts by security forces highlight their unwavering commitment to maintaining peace and security in Manipur, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Manipur Police arrested one Khumanthem Bikramjit Singh (43), a resident of Thoubal district. The arrested person was supplying mobile SIM cards to underground organisations, including the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK-PRO), a police official said.

According to the official, the SIM cards were then used by cadres of proscribed groups who were based in Myanmar to extort money from common people in the Thoubal district. The police recovered 103 SIM cards of various mobile service providers from the detainee.

--IANS

sc/dan