Manipur: 196 weapons returned, security forces to launch operation to recover remaining looted arms

Responding to Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla's appeal, 196 looted and illegally held arms, including many sophisticated weapons, have returned to the police on Thursday, the last date of surrendering the arms, officials said.

A top police official late on Thursday night said that 196 arms and a large cache of ammunition deposited on the last day of return/surrender of arms and ammunition in eight districts of Manipur -- Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Imphal East, Imphal West, Kakching, Jiribam and Pherzawl.

The official said that from now onwards, the Central and state security forces, including the Army and Assam Rifles would jointly launch a massive operation to recover the remaining looted and illegally held arms both in the valley and the hilly districts.

"Our other prime task is to ensure the free movement of both people and vehicles on all roads in Manipur from March 8 as directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah," the official told IANS.

Senior police officials said that till Thursday (March 6) more than 967 looted and illegally held weapons, including many sophisticated arms and a huge cache of ammunition, were returned to security forces since Governor Bhalla made the appeal for the first time on February 20.

To restore peace and normalcy, the Union Home Minister in a high-level meeting in New Delhi on March 1 reviewed the overall security situation in Manipur.

Manipur Governor, Chief Secretary, Security Advisor to the state government, Director General of Manipur Police, Home Commissioner, top Army, Assam Rifles, Central Armed Police Forces and intelligence officials were present in the March 1 meeting.

During the meeting, Amit Shah had said that the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remains fully committed to restoring lasting peace in Manipur and is providing all necessary assistance in this regard.

The Union Home Minister directed that free movement be ensured for people on all roads in Manipur from March 8 and asked for strict action against anyone attempting to create obstructions.

Amit Shah had also instructed that the fencing work on both sides of the designated entry points along Manipur's border with Myanmar should be completed at the earliest.

He said that to make Manipur drug-free, the entire network involved in the drug trade should be dismantled.

The March 1 meeting in Delhi was the first such top-level review meeting held after the imposition of President's Rule in the northeastern state, which has been witnessing ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 3, 2023.

The President's Rule was promulgated in the restive Manipur on February 13, four days after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned.

According to various reports during the ethnic riots between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 3, 2023, more than 6,000 different types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of pieces of different types of ammunition were looted from the police stations and outposts by the mobs and militants.

The security forces, so far, have also recovered a substantial number of the looted arms during the continuous operations.

Governor Bhalla, in his fresh appeal, on February 28 said: "The request (on February 20) has yielded a positive response. Upon the expiry of the seven-day deadline for voluntary surrender of such arms, there has been a demand from both valley and hill areas to extend the period for surrender. I have considered the request and decided to extend the deadline up to 4 p.m. on March 6 for voluntary surrender of such arms. During this period, no punitive action would be taken against the individuals who voluntarily surrender weapons. However, any person found in possession of illegal or looted arms after the given deadline will face legal action as per law."