Manipur Police arrest 11 militants, recover large cache of arms, ammunition

The Manipur Police arrested 11 militants belonging to various banned outfits and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition during the past 24 hours, officials said here on Friday.

A police official said four militants were arrested from Imphal East district, five from Imphal West district and one each from Bishnupur and Thoubal districts. The arrested extremists belong to proscribed PREPAK, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), United People’s Party of Kangleipak (UPPK) and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) -- all are Manipur’s valley-based outfits.

The arrested militants were involved in abduction, forcible collection of money from traders, officials, and contractors, and were also issuing threat notices to people.

Police officials are now interrogating the arrested extremists to know details of their activities.

During the past two months, Manipur Police have arrested more than 60 militants of different outfits and recovered a huge cache of arms, ammunition, incriminating documents and looted items from their possession.

One person identified as Nurul Islam alias Bapon (28) has been arrested from the Jiribam district. Four stolen two-wheelers were recovered from his possession.

The police have recovered a large cache of arms and varied ammunition from the Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts. The recovered arms include self-loading rifles, 12 bore single barrel rifles, .303 rifles, and several pistols.

Meanwhile, a defence spokesman said that in a series of joint operations, the Indian Army and other central and state forces during the past few days have recovered 24 weapons, several improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades, various ammunition and other war-like stores.

He said the Army, Assam Rifles, CRPF, BSF, ITBP, and Manipur Police have recovered the weapons and ammunition from five districts -- Churachandpur, Imphal West, Kangpokpi, Imphal East and Bishnupur districts.

The recovered arms include Bolt Action Rifles, Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs), Single Bore Barrel Rifles (SBBL) and pistols, ammunition and war-like stores. The recovered items have been handed over to the Manipur Police for further investigation and dispersal.

These coordinated efforts by security forces highlight their unwavering commitment to maintaining peace and security in Manipur, a defence release said.