Guwahati: Troops of the Indian Army nabbed 22 miscreants along with weapons and other war-like stores in Manipur’s Imphal East district.
Officials said the arrested people were trying to torch houses and resorted to indiscriminate firing on the Army with automatic weapons.
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Based on intelligence input about the movement of some armed miscreants in the Sanasabi, Gwaltabi, Shabunkhol Khunao and YKPI Bowl areas in the Imphal East district, troops of the Indian Army mobilized on Sunday night undertook search operations in the area.
During the search and combing operations in one of these areas, armed miscreants, who were trying to torch the houses, suddenly resorted to indiscriminate firing on the Army columns with automatic weapons.
The Indian Army troops immediately retaliated and an encounter ensued for some time and soon ammunition of the miscreants got exhausted.
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As the miscreants were trying to escape under the cover of darkness, the Army troopers chased and apprehended a total of 22 miscreants along with weapons.
Five 12 bore double barrel rifles, three single-barrel rifles, one country-made weapon with Double bore and one muzzle-loaded weapon were recovered from their possession.
The miscreants along with the seized weapons and war-like stores were handed over to the Manipur Police
Timely action by the Indian Army averted the loss of several lives and multiple incidents of arson.
The villagers of Sugnu and Serou in the state’s Kakching district witnessed widespread destruction due to the violent clashes on Sunday.
Villagers of both communities went into hiding under the protection of the security forces during the ongoing violent clashes between the rival groups.
In a major evacuation drive by the Indian Army and Assam Rifles with the help of the local police, district administration and civil society organisations, over 2,000 people belonging to the Meitei community were evacuated from the Serou village and shifted to the Pangaltabi relief camp under full protection of the security forces.
While aerial surveillance cover was given by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), mine-protected vehicles and area domination patrols were put in place on the ground to ensure safe and incident-free evacuation.
Similarly, around 328 Kuki villagers were safely evacuated to the Sajik Tampak area from the vulnerable Sugnu village.
Violence erupted in Manipur on May 3 during a “tribal solidarity march” in protest against the Meiteis’ demand of Scheduled Tribes (ST) status.
Tension in the state had been already simmering in view of the eviction of Kuki villagers from the reserve forest lands.
The volcano erupted immediately after a high court order recommending a push for granting ST status to the Meiteis, which is a majority community in the state.
Since the outbreak of the violent ethnic clashes on May 3, at least 78 people have lost their lives, while another 300 people have been injured.
On the other hand, more than 2,000 houses have been torched by the armed militants, thus displacing over 35,000 people, who are still homeless.
Owing to the internal security situation in Manipur, the state administration had requisitioned the Indian Army and Assam Rifles on May 3, 2023.
As an immediate response, the Indian Army and Assam Rifles soon deployed 135 columns to diffuse the situation by carrying out active domination of sensitive and fringe areas.
At present, around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces, have been deployed to bring back normalcy in the crisis-hit state.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to arrive in the crisis-hit state on Monday evening.
The Union Home Minister is likely to stay in the state for at least three days to have discussions with various stakeholders to ensure that the strife-torn state ushers in peace.