Imphal, March 5 Responding to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla’s appeal, 48 more looted arms including many sophisticated weapons have returned to the police during the past 24 hours, officials said.
A police official said that in all 32 arms and a large cache of ammunition were surrendered in different districts on Wednesday, while 16 different types of looted arms and a huge cache of ammunition were returned to the security forces, including Manipur Police on Tuesday.
Senior police officials said that so far over 771 looted and illegally held weapons, including many sophisticated arms and a huge cache of ammunition, were returned to security forces since the Governor made the appeal for the first time on February 20.
According to various reports during the ethnic riots between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 3, 2023, more than 6,000 different types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of pieces of different types of ammunition were looted from the police stations and outposts by the mobs and militants.
The security forces, so far, have recovered a substantial number of the looted arms.
Governor Bhalla, in his fresh appeal, on February 28 said: “The request (on February 20) has yielded a positive response. Upon the expiry of the seven-day deadline for voluntary surrender of such arms, there has been a demand from both valley and hill areas to extend the period for surrender. I have considered the request and decided to extend the deadline up to 4 p.m. on March 6 for voluntary surrender of such arms.” During this period, no punitive action would be taken against the individuals who voluntarily surrender weapons. However, any person found in possession of illegal or looted arms after the given deadline will face legal action as per law.”
Meanwhile, the Manipur Governor chaired a meeting on Wednesday at Raj Bhavan and comprehensively reviewed the progress of ongoing national highway projects in the state.
A Raj Bhavan official said that during the meeting, M.S. Deval, Executive Director, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), provided a detailed briefing on the current status of various national highway projects under construction in different parts of Manipur. Deval also highlighted key challenges affecting project execution.
Governor Bhalla directed the officials to implement necessary measures to address these challenges and ensure timely completion of the projects.
Inspector General of CRPF Rajendra Narayan Das, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Secretary, Manipur Land Resources Department attended the meeting.
Members of Red Cross, Senapati District Branch, on Wednesday called on Governor and apprised him of the key challenges they face while carrying out their humanitarian duties in the region.
Governor appreciated the members for their dedicated humanitarian efforts and assured them that their concerns would be addressed.
--IANS
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