In a major development, the security forces in joint operations, have recovered 328 arms and around 9,300 different types of ammunition in restive Manipur, officials said here on Saturday. A senior police official said that in the wee hours of Saturday, on the basis of specific Intelligence reports regarding the presence of a large cache of arms and ammunition stashed in different areas of five Imphal valley districts, simultaneous search operations were launched at different locations.
He said that joint teams of Manipur Police, Army, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) recovered the significant number of arms and a huge cache of ammunition and war-like stores from the outskirts of five valley districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching.
Of the 328 arms recovered, 151 are Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs), followed by 73 rifles, 65 INSAS rifles, 12 Light Machine Guns (LMGs), six AK series rifles, five carbines, six pistols and many other different types of arms.The joint forces also recovered around 9,300 various types of ammunition in the most successful operations, the official said.
A Manipur Police statement said that these Intelligence-based operations mark a major achievement for the Manipur Police, the security forces, in their continued efforts to restore normalcy, maintain public order, and ensure the safety and security of citizens and their property.The Manipur Police reiterates its commitment to a peaceful and secure Manipur, the statement said.
It said that the public is urged to cooperate with the police and security forces and report any suspicious activities or information related to illegal weapons to the nearest police station or Central Control Room.“Senior police officials are in close coordination with all security stakeholders to ensure that such operations continue in a sustained and focussed manner to restore normalcy, maintain public order, and ensure the safety and security of citizens and their properties,” the statement said.
The recovery of 328 arms and 9,300 various types of ammunition is the first major success of the security forces in Manipur after the ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, 2023.Various official reports, political parties claimed that during the ethnic riots more than 6,020 varied types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of different types of ammunition were looted from the police stations and police outposts by the mobs, attackers and militants.
Till March 6, around 1,000 looted and illegally-held weapons, including many sophisticated arms, and a huge cache of ammunition, have been returned to the security forces since Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla made the appeal for the first time on February 20.