Manipur: 'War-Like' Stores, Arms Recovered By Security Forces In Churachandpur

Manipur Violence: Army and Assam Rifles personnel, based on an intelligence input, carried out a search operation at Gelmol village and recovered the cache of war-like stores.

Security forces with the recovered arms, ammunition and explosives

Source : ASSAM RIFLES

The Indian Army and Assam Rifles, in a joint operation, have recovered a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives from Manipur's Churachandpur district. Based on an intelligence input, Army and Assam Rifles personnel carried out a search operation at Gelmol village in the district on Sunday and recovered the cache of war-like stores.

One M4 assault rifle (without magazine), one 9 mm pistol (with magazine), one sten machine gun, one 9mm country-made pistol (with magazine), one 0.22 mm country-made pistol (with magazine ), locally improvised mortars and ammunition were recovered.

The recovered arms and ammunition were handed over to Churachandpur police.

The cache of arms, ammunition recovered (Assam Rifles)

On Sunday, unidentified miscreants reportedly torched three abandoned houses at New Lambulane area of state capital Imphal.

Unidentified miscreants also reportedly snatched three weapons, including two AK series assault rifles and a carbine, from security personnel stationed at the house of former Health and Family Welfare director K Rajo at the Sagolband Bijoy Govinda area in Imphal West district.

Various insurgent outfits are active in strife-torn Manipur and they have been accused of being involved in fanning the ongoing violence in the state. 

Amid the violence, mobs have stormed police stations and armouries and looted around 4,000 weapons and several ammunition since ethnic clashes erupted in May.

Churachandpur is one of the worst-hit districts in the ethnic clashes. 

Earlier this month, Assam MP and deputy leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said peace cannot return to the violence-hit state as there are over 6,000 sophisticated weapons and around six lakh ammunition with the miscreants.

Over 163 people have been killed and hundreds of others have been injured so far in the three-month long ethnic clashes in the state. The violence has also displaced thousands of people, forcing them to take shelter in relief camps set up by district administrations.

Clashes between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zomi communities erupted on May 3 this year after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. 

Sporadic incidents of violence are still being reported from some parts of the state.