HT Digital
GUWAHATI, Feb 28: The Governor’s call for voluntarily submitting illegal weapons has received a big positive response, with 307 weapons surrendered on Thursday alone, as per a statement released by the police control room.
Out of the weapons surrendered, 246 were surrendered by Arambai Tenggol at the 1st Manipur Rifles (MR) campus, while 61 weapons were surrendered at different places in the state.
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The release statement also recognized the crucial roles performed by youth volunteers, community leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs), and women’s organisations in ensuring the surrender process went smoothly in the valley and hill districts. They have been participating actively, thus ensuring the implementation of the surrender programme is effectively and smoothly conducted.
On Thursday, a good quantity of weapons and ammunition was surrendered to the Bishnupur district police. At Commando Unit Bishnupur, items surrendered were two Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs) with two magazines and three rounds, one Double-Barrel Breech-Loading (DBBL) gun, three 12 Bore cartridges, four high-explosive (HE) hand grenades, and one bulletproof jacket.
At Moirang police station, the weapons surrendered were one.303 rifle, one Single-Barrel Breech-Loading (SBBL) gun, two country-made 9mm pistols, several walkie-talkie sets, bulletproof jackets, and large amounts of ammunition. Other police stations, such as Bishnupur PS and Phougakchao Ikhai PS, also received additional weapons that were surrendered.
The surrendered weapons comprised different rifles, shotguns, pistols, explosives, protective equipment, and communication devices. Large quantities of military-grade materials were also surrendered from February 23 to 27 to the Special Commando Unit, Khabeisoi, in Imphal East district. The surrendered weapons consisted of altered.303 rifles, sniper rifles, revolvers, ammunition for AK and M16 rifles, hand grenades, camouflage, and smoke bombs, among others. These were surrendered to the Heingang PS.
Arms seized in Tengnoupal district included two INSAS rifles, one 51mm mortar, magazines, dud rounds, home-made hand grenades, IEDs, and bulletproof vests. These were handed over to Tengnoupal district police and 5 Assam Rifles under Moreh PS. Likewise, in Thoubal district, several high-power weapons, sniper rifles, revolvers, ammunition, grenades, bulletproof vests, and radio sets were handed over at the office of Superintendent of Police (SP) Thoubal on Tuesday.
The police release emphasized the importance of this voluntary surrender in restoring peace, social harmony, and lawfulness to the state. As the seven-day deadline for voluntary surrender comes to an end, the police have appealed to all citizens, particularly the youth, to step forward and hand over any looted or illegally held weapons at the nearest police stations, outposts, or security force camps.
In addition, the police assured those who were still in control of illegal firearms that no penal action would be taken against people who willingly hand over during the specified time. Nevertheless, they gave a serious warning that legal action would be pursued against anybody who was in possession of illegal or plundered weapons after the deadline.
