3,000 weapons looted in second wave of Manipur violence, 144 recovered so far

Meanwhile, a month into the violence, the toll has reached 98, even as stray firing incidents continue in some parts. While curfew has been relaxed in most districts, exchange of fire between armed miscreants and armed civilians were reported at two places on Friday.

A statement issued by the CM’s Office put the number of injuries at 310, recorded number of arson cases at 4,1014.

According to sources, 1,000 weapons and more than 10,000 ammunition rounds were looted by people in the first wave of violence that began May 3, and three times the number were looted last week, when violence spiked again.

Recovery of these weapons has been rather difficult. Till date, police have been able to recover around 650 weapons — and more than 3,300 civilians are reported to be still armed.

Weapons in the hands of civilians are hampering efforts to return normalcy to the state. Recovery of weapons has been flagged by the security establishment as the first step to bring the situation under control. In fact, reports of armed civilians engaging security forces in some parts of Manipur continued to come even as Shah’s visit was announced.

Upon culmination of his four-day visit, Shah appealed to civilians, who had looted weapons from police stations and security forces camps between May 3 and May 29, to surrender them by Thursday, as security forces would start a combing operation on Friday and anyone found with weapons would be dealt with sternly.

By Friday morning, only 144 weapons were surrendered. Earlier, police had been able to recover about 500 weapons.

Confirming that more than 4,000 weapons had been looted since May 3, Manipur government adviser Kuldiep Singh said, “As many as 144 weapons have been surrendered along with some grenades and ammunition. We hope more people will come forward. We will shortly launch our combing operation.”

Sources in the security establishment said disarming of two Meitei groups — Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun — is of utmost importance because they are suspected to be involved in a large number of Meitei-Kuki clashes. The two groups have been accused by Kuki groups of targeting the community. Sources said the groups have armed themselves and their membership is growing rapidly. Ahead of Shah’s visit, a unit of Assam Rifles engaged in a gunfight with members of Arambai Tenggol, sources said.

With inputs from Leivon Jimmy in Imphal