‘Manipur warring groups still in possession of over 6 lakh bullets’
   Date :20-Jul-2023

Manipur warring groups still 
 
 
IMPHAL, 
OVER six lakh bullets and around 3,000 weapons are still with the warring communities in strife-torn Manipur with officials and experts warning of a resurgence of banned terror groups in the State. Quoting data collected from various sources, officials closely monitoring the situation here said that .303 rifles, Medium Machine Guns (MMG) and AK assault rifles, carbines, Insas Light Machine Guns (LMG), Insas rifles, M-16 and MP5 rifles were reported to be missing from the armouries of the police in May. Besides these, around 6 lakh bullets have been found missing during the waves of attacks carried out on police and other security officials from May 3 when the ethnic clashes began in the State with two dominant communities targeting each other. These attacks have so far claimed over 160 lives. The officials said around 4,537 arms and 6.32 lakh rounds of ammunition were missing mainly from Manipur Police Training Centre (MTPC) at Pangei in East Imphal, 7th India Reserve battalion and 8th Manipur Rifles, both located at Khabeisoi in Imphal city.
According to the officials, out of the stolen weapons, 2,900 fell in the lethal category whereas others comprised teargas and mini flare guns. The looted arms and ammunition were mainly with the rioters in the valley while those in the hills had only 5.31 per cent of such weapons, they said. The officials and experts have been warning that the present unrest has already seen the resurgence of near dormant banned groups like United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak in the State.