NIA raids residence of Manipur Congress MLA, recovers huge amount of arms and ammunition

The NIA searched the premises of Saikul MLA Yamthong Haokip at Mantripukhi in Imphal East district as part of its probe into a case involving 56 pistols and 58 magazines that went missing from the DG armoury in the premises of a Manipur Rifles battalion, between September 2016 and early 2017.

The National Investigation Agency has carried out raids at the residence of a Congress MLA in Manipur and recovered an assortment of weapons and ammunition, including a pistol missing from the Director General of Police (DGP) pool, the agency spokesperson said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Cash worth Rs 26.40 lakh, gold ornaments worth Rs 20 lakh, a 9mm pistol (missing from the DG armoury), a Beretta pistol, a US-made Tomcat-32 pistol with magazine, another unlicensed pistol, two guns and 45 rounds of ammunition, including that of AK series, were recovered from the Congress MLA’s premises , the NIA said. (Getty Images/Picture for representation)

The central agency searched the premises of Saikul MLA Yamthong Haokip at Mantripukhi in Imphal East district on Monday as part of its probe into a criminal case involving 56 pistols and 58 magazines that went missing from the DG pool ‘kote’ (armoury) located in the premises of the battalion of Manipur Rifles, between September 2016 and early 2017.

A cash amount of Rs 26.40 lakh, gold ornaments worth Rs 20 lakh, a 9mm pistol (missing from the DG armoury), a Beretta pistol, a US-made Tomcat-32 pistol with magazine, another unlicensed pistol, two guns and 45 rounds of ammunition, including that of AK series, were recovered from the MLA’s premises , the spokesperson said.

Till date, nine people have been arrested in the case and three 9mm pistols, out of the 56 missing pistols, have been recovered “from members of various militant groups of Manipur”, he said. “The custodial interrogation of the accused revealed Haokip’s involvement,” the spokesperson added.