Guwahati: The Manipur police said late Sunday that they have detained an active member of a militant organisation from the Imphal West district of the violence-hit state and recovered a huge cache of ammunition and explosives from his possession.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the police said that they have recovered 68 live rounds of 40mm lathode ammunition from the Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL), 952 live rounds of 7.62mm bullets, and 294 live rounds of 5.56mm bullets. The militant, along with the seized ammunition and explosives, were later handed over to the Imphal West district police and remanded in police custody.
In another post on X, the Manipur police said that they have arrested one Manoharmayum Barish Sharma (30), a resident of Imphal’s Wangkhei Ningthem Pukhri Mapal area, in connection with an incident of firing by armed miscreants in which five civilians were left injured. The incident took place at Sega Road, Khwairakpam Leikai, in Imphal West district, on October 14 this year.
On the other hand, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on X, “Three Myanmar nationals were apprehended by a team of special commando of the Manipur police while conducting foot patrolling in and around Moreh town on Sunday.”
Chief Minister Singh said that during interrogation, they identified themselves as Khamkhenthang Guite (25), a resident of Myanmar’s Namphalong Sawbua II area, Aung Mae (30), a resident of Myanmar’s Tamu Sawbua X area, and Aung Aung (25), hailing from Myanmar’s Tamu Sawbua XI area.
Chief Minister Singh said that the trio is suspected of stealing furniture and electric generators from the houses that were set ablaze by miscreants during the recent violence. The apprehended Myanmar nationals were later handed over to the Moreh police for further investigation.
“This happened when some particular organisations were objecting and protesting against the deployment of state police and commandos at Moreh town. It is apparent that these organisations do not want the presence of state forces in Moreh so that many of these Myanmar nationals can be brought into the country. The state government cannot keep silent on such an alarming issue of illegal migration,” Chief Minister Singh added in his post on X.
Two tribal civil society bodies, the Kuki Inpi and the Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), have been protesting against the deployment of Manipur police commandos in the Moreh area of the state.
Meanwhile, the Manipur police have erected a total of 131 “nakas” and checkpoints in both the hill and the valley districts of the state. The police have also detained as many as 2,050 people over the past 24 hours in different districts in connection with violations of the law.