Imphal: When a fresh tide of violence broke out in Manipur’s Kangvai and Moreh last week, with aggressive firing, houses burnt, and property vandalised, there was one common thread — the use of stolen police weapons by the clashing groups, ThePrint has learnt.
Nearly three months have passed since more than 200 AK-47s, 406 carbines, 551 INSAS rifles, 250 machine guns, and five lakh rounds of ammunition were looted from police armories and stations, primarily in the Meitei-dominated Imphal valley. However, there have been no substantial recoveries, leaving a significant arsenal in the hands of locals and exacerbating the cycle of violence.
Out of the over 4,500 stolen sophisticated automatic weapons, only around 1,195 have been recovered so far, according to police data.
Hospital data seen by ThePrint reveals a grim reality too: bullet wounds are responsible for the highest number of deaths in Manipur, where the toll so far is at 150 and rising.
Moreover, the gun violence in Manipur is largely being perpetrated by locals using service weapons, claimed security personnel who spoke to ThePrint, pointing to evidence such as the types of cartridges used, firing patterns, and the extent of damage inflicted.
“In most of these crossfires and incidents of violence, service weapons are being used by locals. These are not country-made weapons, they have a different signature,” said a source in the security establishment.
Manipur has been ablaze ever since 3 May, when simmering ethnic tensions erupted into full-fledged violence between the dominant Meitei and tribal Kuki communities.
In this tumultuous environment, the proliferation of lethal weapons among the populace raises grave concerns.
“Until these weapons are recovered, this is not going to stop,” the security source pointed out.
The task of recovery, however, is complicated by numerous factors, ranging from missing records of weapons, a lack of investigative follow through and arrests, ethnic divides within law enforcement, resistance from locals, and disempowered security forces.
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Missing records, few intelligence inputs
On 27 May, mobs stormed the Manipur Police Training Centre in Pangei, Imphal East, making away with a cache of weapons, including rifles, machine guns, carbines, grenades, tear gas shells, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Arms were also pilfered from the 7th Manipur Rifles Battalion, 8th Indian Reserve Battalion, as well as local police station armories and stations across Manipur.
Sources said that when people were looting the weapons, they also took record registers with them, making it tougher to recover the missing armaments.
“What we could gather was that 4,617 weapons were looted, out of which 2,927 were lethal for sure, but there could be more. We are not certain about the nature of the rest of the 1,690 weapons,” the security source said. “We do not have entire records of what all was stolen since the people took records registers with them.”
With a significant number of armed local people roaming freely, incidents of fresh violence are being reported daily throughout the state, particularly in the foothills, leading to a constant rise in the death toll. The ongoing violence has claimed over 150 lives and displaced over 50,000 people, police data shows.
So far, efforts to contain the conflict, such as peace committee meetings, appeals led by local leaders, and joint combing operations, have failed to disarm the locals.
A dearth of intelligence inputs and resistance from locals is making the task of disarmament even more difficult.
“A major challenge we are facing in disarming the locals is the lack of intelligence inputs. Since the fight between the two communities is on, there is no information coming from the public about where the arms are,” a source in the Manipur police said.
General FIRs, no arrests
Despite the urgent requirement to recover stolen weapons, no arrests have been specifically made for the loot so far. In addition, allegations have also surfaced of local police offering little resistance when the thefts took place.
As many as 5,960 FIRs related to the Manipur violence have been filed so far. However, only 4,983 ‘general arrests’ have been made, with most individuals subsequently released, said police sources.
While Heingang police station, falling under Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s constituency (a Meitei area), registered 10 FIRs specifically related to the loot, investigations are yet to commence. The policemen at the station are sitting without any weapons, waiting for the situation to “normalise”.
“Despite the presence of CCTV cameras in all police stations, no arrests have been made, and the identification of the masterminds behind the weapon looting has made no progress,” said a second source in the security establishment.
Moreover, no stringent sections have been invoked in any of the FIRs.
Indian Penal Code sections for unlawful assembly, rioting, dacoity, criminal trespass, and obstructing a public servant on duty, as well as provisions under the Arms Act have been invoked in the FIRs seen by ThePrint. In some, sections of assault or criminal force have also been invoked against “unknown assailants”.
“The FIRs are so generic. They mention that a crowd of 500 people came and looted the weapons,” pointed out the second security source.
This source also alleged that the police’s response to the looting had been lacklustre at best from the get-go.
“The police did fire in the air to stop them, but they could easily barge in and loot the armouries. Strangely no one was injured in this clash from either the police side or the general public,” the source added. “The police willingly parted with the weapons.”
Split in police
As reported earlier by ThePrint, an ethnic divide has deepened in the Manipur police force.
This split, the second security source said, is also impeding joint combing operations to recover weapons as policemen are allegedly providing advance warnings and tip-offs to the villages of their community, resulting in failed operations,
“Such is the divide that they are now identifying themselves as Meitei and Kuki police,” a senior officer said to ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
A second police source noted that local resistance was also a big hurdle in recovering weapons.
“We are on the backfoot. Using force and getting the weapons recovered is a big challenge,” he said. “The people are very aggressive. The moment they get a whiff of any operation, they gather and block roads forcing the police to retreat.”
Disempowered central forces
There is growing public support for proscribed militant groups in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, which is proving to be an obstacle for disarmament efforts, sources in the security establishment said.
Compounding the challenge, the Army and the Assam Rifles lack the legal framework to conduct operations in most villages of the Imphal Valley, as these areas are no longer classified as “disturbed” under the following the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Of the 92 police stations in Manipur, AFSPA has been lifted from 19 stations across seven districts. The notification was lifted from 15 stations in April 2022, and then from another four in April 2023 due to improvements in law and order.
Most attacks, the sources said, are being launched by Meitei insurgent groups from denotified areas that are no longer considered disturbed.
“Both Meiteis and Kukis have armed groups supporting and assisting them. What makes crackdown a challenge in Imphal Valley is that it is a ‘peaceful area’ which restrains the forces from any overt action,” the source said.
In the Imphal Valley, the central forces do not have power to make arrests or independently carry out operations, as they are only deployed to assist the police.
“For any raid, combing operation or action, we are dependent on the local police that itself stands divided on ethnic lines,” the second security source added.
Meanwhile, K.H. Athouba, a Meitei leader from the civil society group Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) told ThePrint earlier this month that the arms were looted only for defence against aggression and did not pose a threat to internal security.
“These weapons in the hands of Meteis are not a threat to the security forces, or the state. These are not being used for any criminal activity,” he had said. “Once normalcy returns, the weapons too will be returned. Once violence is over, the arms will not be required for anything.”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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