Army apprehends 3 miscreants in strife-torn Manipur, recovers arms, ammunition

Imphal (Manipur) [India], May 29 (ANI): Three armed miscreants who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack on security forces in Imphal’s East District have been apprehended along with the recovery of ammunition, an official statement from the Indian Army said on Monday.

As per the statement, One INSAS Rifle with a Magazine, sixty rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, one Chinese hand grenade and one Detonator were also recovered from the possession of the accused.

“On May 28, at 7:30 pm, one Mobile Vehicle Check Post (MVCP) noticed a suspected Maruti Alto car approaching with four passengers. On being stopped, the miscreants got down from the car and attempted to flee into bylanes of the colony,” read the Indian Army statement.

“Responding to specific intelligence about armed miscreants venturing openly with the intention to carry out an attack on Security Forces in the area of City Convention Centre, Imphal East District, the Army mobilised three columns on 28 May to establish multiple Mobile Vehicle Check Posts(MVCP) in the area and apprehend the miscreants,” the statement added.

The statement said that all three miscreants were apprehended by troops and thus “averted a major untoward incident in the area”.

“This timely action by the troops on the ground could save the occurrence of a major untoward incident in the area,” it said.

All three miscreants with weapons and ammunition were later handed over to Manipur police, the statement added.

Manipur faced violence on May 3 during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. The march was organised in protest against the demand for inclusion of the state’s Meitei community in the ST category, following an April 19 Manipur High Court directive.