HT Digital
IMPHAL, Mar 3: In a major breakthrough, the people in Manipur deposited twenty more guns in four districts as part of the on-going process of recovery of looted and illegal guns in the state.
The new surrenders were made on March 2 in Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, and Jiribam districts.
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Officials report that three weapons, two of them 9mm pistols, were handed over at the SDPO office in Porompat, Imphal East district. Four weapons, three grenades, and other arms-related material were also surrendered to the Border Security Force (BSF) in Bishnupur district.
Weapons were also surrendered at Jiribam, Wangoi, and Sekmai police stations, further boosting security forces’ efforts to recover stolen arms.
The weapons surrenders came in response to an appeal made by Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on February 20, inviting militant groups to voluntarily surrender arms taken from security personnel, among other illegally held weapons.
The governor had set an initial deadline of seven days, during which time over 300 weapons were surrendered, largely from the valley districts.
Coming into response to calls from valley and hill tracts for extra time, the governor subsequently also extended the timeframe for weapons to be surrendered by 4 pm on March 6.
Additional guns have since then been voluntarily surrendered in other places across the state, marking the beginning of an incremental but seminal move toward recapturing the region with the rule of law.
