Manipur: Armory of Kuki insurgents looted in ceasefire
Imphal (IANS) | Suspected militants belonging to the Kuki Independent Army (KIA) on Sunday looted 25 sophisticated weapons from the armory of three insurgent outfits lodged in camps set up under the Suspension of Operations (SOO) agreement in Manipur. Police gave this information. KIA (also known as Kuki Independent Organisation) militants looted at least 25 sophisticated weapons from camps of three militant groups in Manipur’s Churachandpur in the early hours of Sunday, a police official said.
The Manipur-based KIA is a non-signatory to the tripartite ceasefire agreement with the government.
According to the official, a camp named Chungkhao in Churachandpur district bordering Myanmar was attacked and captured by a large number of KIA guerrillas.
The KIA rebels managed to escape from the mountainous region without any bloodshed with the looted weapons.
About 25 Kuki militants belonging to three different organizations are living in the camp named Chungkhao.
High alert has been declared and police officials have asked all concerned police stations to be on alert for recovery of looted weapons and arrest of the fleeing insurgents.
The hilly Churachandpur district of southern Manipur, which borders Myanmar and Mizoram, is home to various Kuki-Chin militant outfits.
Three days after the Manipur police announced a Rs 50,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest of KIA chief Thangkhongam Haokip alias Davidson alias Pareng Kom (40), the government set up a militant camp from where weapons were looted .
The three militant centers of the Kuki National Army (KNA), the Jomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) and the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) and have been associated with the three organizations since the Manipur government signed a tripartite agreement with these organizations on 22 August 2008 People are living in designated camps.
The Manipur government last month walked out of tripartite talks and signed SoOs with three Kuki insurgent outfits in the northeastern state, though the Union Home Ministry is yet to approve the state government’s decision.
It was also reported that cadres of KNA, ZRA and KRA are inciting opium cultivators in the state against the government. The government is taking action against illegal opium cultivators, and destroying opium farms in forest lands, especially in reserved and protected forests.
However, an umbrella organization of Kuki organizations has rejected the allegations.
–IANS
