StatesManipur
Manipur police arrest three over Kangpokpi firewood attack, recover 12 guns and 1,095 rounds
Two of the suspects admitted to being part of the team that fired on villagers at Khongbal Tangkhul, police said. Seventeen people were also detained at a Kuki militant camp after their identities failed to match.
Key points
- Police arrested three suspected militants over Monday's attack that killed three Meitei villagers in Kangpokpi.
- A cache of 12 firearms and 1,095 live rounds was recovered from the hills on the suspects' information.
- At Sinai Camp, 17 people were detained because their identities did not match the listed cadres.
Manipur Police have arrested three suspected militants over Monday’s attack on a group of villagers collecting firewood in Kangpokpi district, and recovered a large haul of weapons from the hills on the strength of what the suspects told interrogators.
Lhari Dorje, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order and Intelligence), said on Tuesday that two of the three had admitted to being part of the assault team. “Further investigation is underway to identify other persons involved in the Monday incident,” he said.
Suspected armed militants opened fire on about 14 villagers who had gone to collect firewood at Khongbal Tangkhul, under Sagolmang police station, on Monday. Three villagers from the Meitei community were killed and four others were injured.
The arms haul
Acting on the disclosures, police and central security forces recovered what Dorje called a “huge cache of arms and ammunition” from the mountainous area. It included an INSAS rifle, an M16, an AK-47-type rifle, a 7.62 mm sniper rifle, a Heckler and Koch 5.56 mm rifle, three 12-bore single-barrel guns and a handmade rocket launcher.
In all, the police counted 12 firearms, 1,095 live rounds, explosives and other material. Security forces are also looking into reports of missing ammunition and magazines. Senior officers of Manipur Police and the combined security forces carried out helicopter surveillance over the area, and operations are continuing.
Detentions at Sinai Camp
On Tuesday, 17 people were detained for verification at Sinai Camp, a designated camp under the Suspension of Operations agreement. Police said their identities did not match the listed cadres of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) attached to the camp.
Thoubal search
Police also gave an update on the clashes between two communities at Khangabok-Sangaiyumpham in Thoubal district on Sunday, in which one person was killed and several were injured. A joint team of Thoubal police and central forces searched about 146 houses and verified more than 300 people in the Sangaiyumpham-Cherapur area. Four people were detained, two of whom have been formally arrested. A double-barrel gun was seized and sent for forensic examination.
Prohibitory orders remain in the two affected areas of Thoubal.
Appeal for calm
With violence flaring in both the valley and the hills within two days, police appealed to people to stay calm and “refrain from taking the law into their own hands”. They asked the public not to spread unverified information and rumours on social media, and to report suspicious activity to the nearest police station or the Central Control Room.