Manipur police recover 80% of firearms looted during Ukhrul violence
Four people were killed and 20 others injured in a gunfight that broke out between two groups (Photo: PTI)
Sixteen firearms looted by a mob from Manipur’s Ukhrul police station were recovered, police said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference, Inspector General (Operations) IK Muivah said that during the clash between two villages on October 2, an agitated crowd stormed the police station and looted 20 firearms.
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“With the cooperation of security forces, civil society organizations and community leaders, 80 percent of the weapons have now been recovered,” he said.
Efforts are underway to retrieve the remaining weapons, he said.
Among the weapons recovered were 9mm pistols, INSAS rifles and AK-47 rifles, he added.
Muivah said the situation in the district was under control and security forces, including the Manipur Rifles, Assam Rifles and BSF, were keeping a close watch in coordination with the leaders of the two villages.
“This is something unprecedented, remarkable and commendable for all those who have played a very positive role in restoring normalcy,” he said.
Assam Rifles officer Sanjeev Singh said the situation has been brought under control with “minimal use of force or no use of force”.
“Assam Rifles, BSF and police have jointly ensured that no more violent incident takes place. Civil society organizations have played a major role. We would like to appeal that we are in a de-escalation phase and that we must continue to de-escalate the situation.” he said.
Four people were killed and 20 others injured in a gunfight that broke out on October 2 between two groups, both belonging to the Naga community but from two different villages, over cleaning of a disputed land in the city as part of ‘Swachhata Abhiyan ‘.
Following the clash, prohibitory orders were imposed and mobile internet services were suspended in the city.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First publication: Oct 5, 2024 | 11:23 PM IST