IMPHAL: Amid inputs that the proscribed Kuki Independent Army (KIA) is expected to launch various acts of violence with its looted arms and ammunition, security forces and police are fully prepared to tackle those who would attempt to use them and also retrieve the snatched weapons.
Top officials of the Indian security forces and the Manipur police chief on Tuesday held close-door meetings to retrieve the dozens of weapons looted by the KIA from the Suspension of Operation designated camp on April 8.
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Also read: Manipur | KIA/KIO rebels loot armoury of Kuki militant groups under SoO in Churachandpur
Sh Akhileshwar Singh, Inspector General Border Security Forces, and Director General of Police, Manipur P Doungel on Tuesday discussed the prevailing security scenario in the State.
The IG BSF was accompanied by Sh Dinesh Singh Rawat, DIG SHQ Manipur, Dr CP Meena, DIG (Ops) FTR M&C & other BSF officers, said a statement of the BSF.
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Also read: Manipur: Kuki Independent Army chief declared most wanted, cash reward announced
In the aftermath of the arms clamour incident, the Manipur Chief Minister, police chief, and high officials of the Assam Rifles have also held discussions for launching counter-insurgency campaigns so as to arrest the KIA with the recovery of the looted weapons, an official source said on Wednesday.
“There are a lot of inputs that suggest that these weapons especially small arms are being used in various anti-social activities, especially in the Kuki-dominated areas of Manipur,” officials suggested.
The KIA activists looted the weapons after its self-styled leader Thangkhongam Haokip was declared a wanted man by the State police on April 4.
KIA is a non-signatory Kuki underground outfit.
There are 25 UG groups that are signatories under the tripartite ceasefire agreements with the governments.
The raid team looted over two dozen of sophisticated weapons from the armory of Horeb Camp at Chongkhozou Village under Henglep Sub Division of Manipur’s Churachandpur.
Manipur Chief N Biren said that in this designated camp only four cadres belonging to the United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA), Kuki National Front-Zogam (KNF-Z), and United Socialist Revolutionary Army (USRA) were reported to have guarded it on that fateful day – April 8.
The CM who also holds the home portfolio expressed his apprehension that the weapons were being looted through collusion between the cadres of SoO groups and KIA.
But those who took away the guns and ammunition from the camp will be trapped in the security dragnets and booked as per law of the land, the CM exuded confidence.
Taking the matter seriously, the Manipur Chief Minister said that a special inquiry committee has been constituted to figure out how such large caches of arms and ammunition were looted from the designated camp.