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Security forces recover arms, ammunition looted in ethnic violence-hit Manipur
The ethnic violence in Manipur between Meitei and Kuki communities was triggered on May 3 and has since left at least 175 people dead and 50,000 displaced
Security forces involved in combing operations in ethnic violence-hit Manipur have in three operations over the last month recovered arms and ammunition, including 1085 bombs, looted from police stations and armouries, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
“...three major successful operations [were conducted] in Khamenlok-Gwalthabi, Wakan and Shantipur ridges,” said the Kohima (Nagaland)-based spokesperson in a statement. It added 18 automatic weapons, 1085 bombs, 14 improvised mortars/rocket launchers, six rifles/pistols, one mortar, 530 assorted ammunition, and 132 other war-like stores recovered were handed over to Manipur Police on Thursday.
The statement said Khamenlok-Gwalthabi, Wakan and Shantipur ridges separate villages of Meitei and tribal Kuki communities in Imphal East district. Intelligence reports indicated a build-up of weapons, ammunition and other war-like store caches on either side of the ridges.
“The caches were probably being built up by inimical elements for attempting misadventure in each other’s area. The security forces took note of the intelligence inputs and carried out extensive surveillance and launched multiple search operations to recover maximum war-like stores with an aim to thwart any attempts of firing or arson by miscreants,” the statement said.
The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities was triggered on May 3 and has since left at least 175 people dead and 50,000 displaced. Officials said mobs looted 5669 types of arms and around 500,000 rounds of ammunition from police stations and armouries. Only around 1300 of them were recovered until the first week of October.
The Army, Manipur Police, Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force and India Reserve Battalion were involved in the combing operations.
