Midnight raids: 328 firearms, 7,000 rounds seized across 5 Manipur valley districts
Among the items seized were 151 SLR rifles, 65 INSAS rifles, 73 other rifles and 5 carbine guns, among others
328 firearms and over 7,000 ammunitions recovered in Manipur on Saturday.
Imphal, June 14: In a joint operation, Manipur police along with central agencies, recovered a massive cache of arms and ammunitions from the outskirts of five valley districts of Manipur during midnight raids, authorities said on Saturday.
Based on specific inputs, the teams of state police, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Indian Army and Assam Rifles recovered 328 firearms and over 7,000 ammunitions from Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Kakching and Thoubal districts.
"During the intervening night of June 13 and June 14, on receipt of specific intelligence regarding the presence of a large cache of arms and ammunition stashed in different areas of valley districts, a joint team launched an operation in five valley districts,” said Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo, ADGP, Manipur Police.
Among the items seized were 151 SLR rifles, 65 INSAS rifles, 73 other rifles, five carbine guns, two MP5 guns, 12 light machine guns, six AK series rifles, two Amogh rifles, one mortar, six pistols, one AR-15, and two flare guns.
“Besides a total of 328 rifles and guns, the security forces recovered 591 assorted magazines, 3,534 SLR rounds, 2,186 INSAS rounds, 2,252 rounds of .303 rifles, 234 AK rounds, 407 Amogh rounds, 20 9-mm pistol rounds, 10 grenades, three lathodes, and seven detonators,” said the official.
According to Lhatoo, the operation marks a significant achievement for the security forces in their continued efforts to restore normalcy, maintain public order, and ensure the safety and security of people and their property in the strife-torn state.
Meanwhile, senior police officers are in close coordination with all security stakeholders to ensure that such operations continue in a sustained and focused manner, the official said.
With inputs from PTI