Manipur: Army apprehends 22 miscreants, foils arson bid

The Army has apprehended 22 armed miscreants who tried to set houses afire in Imphal East District of Manipur, and also recovered weapons from their possession, an official said on Monday.

A Defence spokesperson said that a large number of Army troops were mobilised on Sunday night after intelligence inputs suggested armed miscreants were venturing out to burn houses at Sanasabi, Gwaltabi and Shabunkhol Khunao in the hilly region of Imphal East district.

Multiple Mobile Vehicle Check Posts were immediately set up and search operations in the area were undertaken

The official said that at one point of time, Army soldiers were attacked and fired upon by miscreants who were trying to burn the houses.

However, "the Army's proactive and swift operation apprehended 22 miscreants with weapons and other war-like stores. The arms recovered from the miscreants include, five 12 bore double barrel rifles, three single barrel rifles, one country made weapon with double bore and one muzzle loaded weapon", the Defence spokesperson said.

The Army's swift action averted the loss of precious lives, houses and other properties besides multiple incidents of arson, the official added.

All the 22 miscreants along with apprehended weapons and war-like stores were handed over to Manipur Police.

Defence sources said that drones, mine-protected vehicles, Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) were mobilised to undertake large scale civilian rescue operations in the aftermath of fresh incidents in Kakching district.

Media reports said that at least four persons, including two commandos, died and 12 others were injured after armed militants attacked villagers at Sugnu in Kakching district on Sunday.

After fresh incidents at Sugnu and Serou villages of Kakching district, villagers of different communities were stranded in various pockets under the protection of security forces.

The Army and Assam Rifles, in coordination with police, district administration and civil society organisations, evacuated nearly 2,000 Meitei villagers from Serou to Pangaltabi Relief Camp in defence and private vehicles under the protection of the Assam Rifles.

While ferrying the displaced people, aerial surveillance cover was provided by drones, Mine Protected Vehicles and area domination patrols were put in place on the ground to ensure safe and incident-free evacuation.

Medical aid to those in need was given by service doctors. Similarly, nearly 328 Kuki villagers were also safely evacuated to Sajik Tampak from Sugnu village, the defence spokesperson said.