Guwahati: Security forces in Manipur have recovered weapons from members of the Kuki Independent Army (KIA) following a brief exchange of fire during a search operation Sunday.
The weapons are “mostly single-barrel countrymade weapons”, police said. The recoveries also included two AK-56 rifles with a magazine each, along with Chinese hand grenades, and a carbine with a magazine, police said.
The state police force has been on the lookout for the KIA’s self-styled commander-in-chief Thangkhongam Haokip alias Davidson and his men on charges of looting weapons from a “Suspension of Operation (SoO)” camp (Horeb Camp) in the Henglep area of Churachandpur district, bordering Myanmar, on 8 April.
The camp houses cadres of insurgent groups that have signed a ceasefire or SoO agreement with the government. The KIA is not a signatory to the ceasefire.
“It has not yet been verified whether the seized weapons are from the inventory of the looted arms from the designated camp. Search operations continue,” Churachandpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Shivanand Surve told ThePrint.
Following the alleged theft, the police had launched combing operations to locate the insurgents, and had also announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for any information on their whereabouts.
Police fired first round
On Saturday night, after receiving information about the presence of 14 KIA cadres in a forest area between Kolchung and Songphu villages, about 20 km north of Henglep, a police team from Churachandpur launched an operation in general area Songphu.
“On Sunday afternoon, the team spotted a few KIA cadres in the jungle,” said Surve.
“Since it is a jungle area, the visibility is poor. The first rounds were fired from our side and then an exchange of fire happened,” he added. “The KIA party split and started running farther into the forest. The cadres also fired back while escaping. Bloodstains were seen on the route, but as of now we cannot confirm any deaths,” Surve said.
Police said inputs suggested that the KIA cadres had taken along six civilians from two villages after they allegedly stole the weapons from the designated camp. The civilians were also present at the spot during the encounter. One of the villagers is reportedly missing while five others managed to escape, police said.
A villager from Kolchung is believed to have sustained bullet injuries in the exchange of fire, according to local sources.
“He was a porter for KIA — wilfully gone or forcefully taken is being ascertained. Further enquiries on,” said Surve.
The designated camp allegedly looted by the KIA houses cadres of Kuki rebel groups under the umbrella of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), namely the United Socialist Revolutionary Army (USRA), the United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA), and the Kuki National Front-Zougam (KNF-Z).
The KIA cadres are still at large and currently believed to be armed with pistols, AK rifles and Heckler & Koch rifles, apart from the weapons they looted from the designated camp.
Intelligence sources said the insurgents looted an AK-47 and a self-loading rifle (SLR) from UTLA cadres, besides three AK-56 rifles from the KNF-Z, and a telescopic sight from the USRA stockpile among other weapons.
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