3 displaced Manipur residents arrested in Assam for looting shops with firearms
The arrested Manipur residents told police that they were displaced from their native places earlier this year due to the ethnic violence in Manipur
Three displaced residents of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district were arrested in Assam’s Cachar district for allegedly looting shops and a petrol pump, using firearms, on Friday night.
According to police, a group of miscreants were conducting robberies in various parts of Cachar district and on Friday night some of them were arrested. Additional superintendent of police of Cachar district, Subrata Sen on Saturday told reporters that in the initial investigation, it was found that all of them are residents of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district.
“They said that they were displaced from their native places earlier this year due to the ethnic violence. They took shelter in a camp made for displaced people in Mizoram’s Kolasib district. They later entered Assam secretly and got involved in illegal activities here,” Sen said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Dimngel Lalboi Michael, Paojalen Dimngel and Thangboi Dimngel-all residents of Saijong and Paohao villages under Saikul police station of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, according to the police.
The additional SP said that during the search, they recovered one 9mm pistol, one .22 pistol and 65 rounds of ammunition.
“In last two months they robbed cash worth ₹3-4 lakhs and other valuable items from several shops including wineshop, hardware shop, petrol pump etc,” Sen said.
Sen said that they are investigating important aspects like, how they managed to enter Assam with firearms, who gave them shelter in Assam and how many of them are still absconding.
“We are interrogating them and we are hoping to get more relevant information in further investigation,” the additional SP said.
Police said that the Manipur residents were arrested under sections 392 (robbery) 397 (attempt to cause death or grievous hurt during robbery or dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They’ll be produced before the court on Sunday, police said.
The ethnic conflict that has engulfed Manipur since May 3 has claimed 175 people till date, 1,108 others injured,32 missing and nearly 50,000 people were displaced besides burning several villages and localities.
In two different cases in last two months, the Cachar police arrested several Manipur residents while they were attempting to transport drugs through Mizoram.
According to the police, the consignments came from Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts of Manipur. “The drug peddlers are now taking new routes using hills of Mizoram to reach Cachar district,” a senior police official said.
