IMPHAL, Dec 29: Caches of arms and ammunition were recovered as the police continued joint operations with the security forces in fringe and vulnerable areas of violent affected districts of Manipur.
Police sources said that a cache of arms and ammunition was recovered by Churachandpur police in a joint operation with the troops of 46 Assam Rifles in the surrounding forest area of L Kanan village under the Behiang Police station of the district on Thursday morning.
The operation that started from 5 am and lasted till 10 am, was conducted based on reliable input regarding caching of arms and ammunition in the area, the police said.
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During the operation, the combined team came across a cache of arms and ammunition wrapped in polythene which was concealed in a bush.
The recovered items were two 9mm pistols with magazines, one loaded with five rounds and another two rounds, and an empty magazine of a 9mm pistol, the police also said.
Arms and ammunition was also recovered in another operation in the foothill villages of Pungdongbam, Sekta and Lousangkhong under the Lamlai Police Station of Imphal East district bordering Kangpokpi district, the police added.
One M16 rifle marked as M16A1 with a magazine loaded with four rounds and one M21 sniper rifle marked nil with an empty magazine and three 36 HE grenades without detonators were found in the cache, the police further said.
A combined team of police commandos, 22 Assam Rifles and a platoon of 12 battalion of CRPF conducted the operation based on reliable input. The operation started around 8.15 am and lasted till 10 am.
The recovered arms and ammunition were handed over to Lamlai Police Station for further legal procedures.
The police along with the security forces have been conducting search operations in the fringe and vulnerable areas across the violent affected districts of the state since the middle week of September last to recover arms and ammunition in the possessions of the miscreants.
After the outbreak of ethnic violence on May 3 last, a total of 5,669 different types of sophisticated arms and around 500,000 rounds of ammunition were looted from different police stations and armouries by mobs and individuals. (NNN)
