Two women among eight militants arrested in Manipur, arms and drugs seized

Eight militants, including two women cadres, belonging to different banned insurgent outfits were arrested and arms, ammunition and other incriminating materials recovered in separate joint security force operations across Manipur during the past 24 hours, officials said on Monday. 

A senior police official said that the eight militants, including two women, were apprehended from Imphal West, Imphal East. and Bishnupur districts during coordinated operations jointly carried out by the Manipur Police and other security agencies.

The arrested militants belong to the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and its political wing, the Revolutionary People's Front (RPF).

According to the official, the arrested extremists were allegedly involved in various unlawful activities, including kidnapping and the forcible collection of "subscriptions", a term commonly used by insurgent groups to refer to extortion.

Security personnel recovered several incriminating documents, subscription receipts, cash, seals, letterheads of the banned outfits and other materials from the possession of the arrested militants.

In two separate operations, the joint security forces also recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from Ekok Pat near the Arong River under Thoubal Police Station in Thoubal district and from a forested area under Moreh Police Station in Tengnoupal district, which shares an unfenced international border with Myanmar.

The recovered items included two INSAS rifles, an MP-5 submachine gun, a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), two .303 rifles, eight magazines, a smoke bomb and 379 rounds of live ammunition of different calibres.

In a separate operation, Manipur Police arrested an alleged drug peddler, identified as Arun Dutta, 50, a resident of Dibrugarh in neighbouring Assam, from the Khullen Naka check-post in Senapati district.

Police seized a car and eight soap cases containing 80 grams of brown sugar from his possession.

Meanwhile, the security forces, comprising the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the Manipur Police, have continued extensive counter-insurgency operations, including search operations and area domination exercises, in fringe, mixed-population and other vulnerable areas across the state. As part of the intensified security measures, 111 nakas and checkpoints have been set up across the valley and hill districts to monitor the movement of militants, anti-social elements and suspicious vehicles.

The security forces have also been providing armed escorts to trucks and other vehicles carrying essential commodities along the strategically important Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH-37). Strict security arrangements and convoy protection continue to remain in place along vulnerable stretches of the highway to ensure the safe and uninterrupted movement of passenger and goods vehicles.