Guwahati: Ten people including Indian and Myanmar nationals have been chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a 2022 case related to the seizure of arms and explosives in Mizoram and its “connection with Myanmar-based insurgent groups”.
A press statement released by the NIA said all 10 accused have been charged with “active involvement” in the arms, ammunition and explosives trafficking network operating along the Indo-Myanmar border. They have been charged under various sections of the IPC as well as the Arms and Explosive Substances Acts.
The case was registered in May 2022 following the seizure of a large quantity of explosives, firearms and ammunition from two pick-up trucks on the outskirts of Kelsih village under Kulikawn police station of Aizawl district.
Four persons hailing from Mizoram were arrested for their alleged involvement — Lalbiaktluanga (42), Zoremsanga (42) and their accomplices Laldinpuia (24) and Lalrintluanga (24). A police statement issued at the time had revealed that “the owners/drivers of seized vehicles did not possess any explosive or arms license for possessing or transporting” the materials.
The NIA investigation revealed a “conspiracy by Myanmar insurgents along with their associates in their country, as well as in Mizoram”, to procure arms for supporting the resistance movement against the military regime in the neighbouring country.
“They had entered a conspiracy with Aizawl-based Myanmar national, Lalrinsanga, to illegally traffic arms, ammunition and explosives for supply to Myanmar-based groups,” the NIA statement read.
The NIA has also claimed that the batch number and QR codes on the seized weapons and explosives indicate the consignment was supplied by a Guwahati-based explosives firm, Albarin Explotech.
At the time of the seizure two years ago, the Mizoram police had stated that items seized from the first pick-up truck included 55 boxes of gelatin sticks (200 sticks in each box), four boxes of safety fuse, and eight unlicensed Non Prohibited Bore (NPB) arms — three airguns, two sporting rifles, three 12-gauge shotguns along with other ammunition.
Another 65 boxes of gelatin sticks (200 in each box), and four boxes of gunpowder were also seized from a second pick-up truck the same day.
Six other accused have been identified as Lalrinsanga, Zothanmawia, Henry Siangnuna, J. Rohlupuia, Laldinsanga, and David Lalramsanga, the NIA stated, adding that some of them are “Myanmar-based absconders”.
The ‘conspiracy’
According to the NIA, accused Lalrinsanga had established a nexus with licensed explosive dealers David Lalramsanga and C Laldinsanga, and their associates, Lalbiaktluanga and Zothanmawia, while procuring large quantities of explosives for transportation to Myanmar. The probe also found “direct involvement” of other accused in the supply of illegal arms to the Myanmar insurgents.
In January last year, ThePrint reported how ethnic Chin insurgents are fighting Myanmar’s junta, while also using Mizoram as a logistical base.
Meanwhile, the NIA investigation found that arms dealers in capital Aizawl, part of the conspiracy, had allegedly handed over illegal supplies to Myanmar nationals who would regularly visit Mizoram.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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The Mizoram-Myanmar boundary is a very porous one. Mizos on the Indian side and tribes on the Myanmarese side are related by kinship over the centuries.
As a result, all kinds of smuggling and illicit activities take place here. Arms and drugs smuggling have been going on for decades. China and Pakistan use this to their advantage and supply arms to all north-eastern rebel outfits through the Mizoram-Myanmar border.
Mizos have always been involved in arms and drug smuggling across the Indo-Myanmar border. Even in the current Manipur conflict, illegal Kuki immigrants from Myanmar who have settled in the hill tracts of Manipur are being supplied arms and ammunition by the Mizos. The Chief Minister of Mizoram has shamelessly defended the Kukis while putting rhe blame on Meiteis for the current conflict.