New Delhi: Many arms and explosives looted from police armouries in Manipur over the last one year are yet to be recovered. Despite repeated appeals for surrender and operations for recovery by authorities, a number of sophisticated weapons are still in the hands of unlawful elements, fomenting trouble in the state.
On April 4, the army recovered a large quantity of illegal arms, ammunition, and other war-like stores from Khujoi Rok Nala near Sadu Kabui village of Bishnupur district, the Economic Times had reported. Authorities recovered sophisticated weapons such as one 9mm Carbine Machine Gun, one Sten Gun Mk-2, one .303 Rifle, one 9mm pistol, one Anti-riot gun, 14 Grenades, Ammunition and other war-like stores.
Based on specific inputs from the ground, the army along with SSB and Manipur Police has been conducting joint operations to recover illegal arms and ammunition.
Similarly in the last week of February, the Manipur Police recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives during search operations at two villages in Churachandpur district. Authorities seized four firearms, one improvised long-range heavy mortar and ammunition from the outskirts of D Haolenjang village, the Indian Express had reported.
Around the same time in February, a police team recovered 10 guns, eight gelatin sticks and ammunition from Moljang village in Churachandpur during another search operation. In a third similar operation in February, three persons were arrested from Keisampat junction in Imphal West district after two SLR rifles were seized from their possession.
Since May 3 last year when the ethnic conflict broke out, Manipur has witnessed repeated arms loot. According to the state’s chief minister N. Biren Singh’s statement issued in the first week of April, police recovered 1,757 arms and 22,707 ammunition from the approximately 5,600 arms and 6.5 lakh rounds looted from the Manipur Police armoury during the initial days of the violence.
These arms have played a critical role in exacerbating the violence. When The Wire’s team was in Manipur in the last week of May and the first week of June 2023, it had found, despite the curfew, several men dressed in black, riding on various vehicles in groups, with sophisticated weapons.
Some of the publicly available FIRs, lodged in various police stations of the state, do give an idea as to which weapons have been looted by the miscreants. A majority of these looting incidents did not happen during the dead of the night but either post-noon or in the evening, according to those FIRs.
