Manipur: Massive Arms and Ammunition Seizure in Wangoo Laipham, Police Conduct Search Operations

IMPHAL: In a substantial law enforcement operation, the Manipur police successfully confiscated a substantial cache of arms and ammunition during search operations conducted in the Wangoo Laipham area. The operation, carried out jointly by various security forces, unearthed a significant number of weapons and munitions.

The search operations took place on a Tuesday evening between 3.30 and 7.30 in Wangoo Laipham Chingya. Several houses in the vicinity were searched, along with suspected areas in the Wangoo Laipham Manya hill range. It was during this operation that a substantial amount of arms and ammunition was discovered on the hill range near the cemetery.

The recovered items included an AK-47, five SLR rifles, a modified .303 rifle, an Insas rifle, three .303 rifles, two sbbls, 11 HE grenades, one Chinese hand grenade, three wp gren MK Is, 15 grenade launching tubes, a small quantity of suspected pek along with fuses, six detonators, two detonator boxes, six ballistic cartridges, three empty 12-bore cases, a BP vest, two walkie-talkies (Baofeng), an empty AK-47 magazine, an empty Insas rifle magazine, four empty .303 rifle magazines, five empty SLR rifle magazines, and a locally made pipe bomb.

The operation was a joint effort, involving a combined team of the Commando (CDO) unit in Kakching, Village Defense Force (VDF) personnel from Kakching, personnel from the Manipur Police Telecom Organization (MPTO), the Office-in-charge (OC) of Wangoo PS, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Sugnu PS, as well as teams from D-Coy 136 BSF and B-Coy 167 BSF, all under the supervision of Additional SP (ops) Kakching, SP/KCG Th Vikramjit Singh, and overall supervision of DIG/R-II H Jogeshchandra Singh. The recovered items were handed over to the OC of WNG-PS for further necessary action.

This significant seizure followed another operation earlier in the month, where state and central security forces conducted searches in multiple districts, including Imphal East, Kakching, Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Thoubal, and Imphal West. In the Imphal East district, officials discovered eight firearms, including an assault rifle, a 0.303 rifle, three SMG carbines, a sten gun, two 9mm pistols, 62 live rounds of ammunition, 18 explosives, a locally made bomb launcher, two Kenwood wireless sets, two tube launchers, a smoke grenade, and five bullet-proof jackets.

In the Churachandpur district, law enforcement officers recovered two arms—a 9mm pistol with a magazine and a locally made single-barrel firearm—along with a 12mm bore live round, 21 heavy caliber machine gun rounds, a heavy mortar (10ft), a locally made improvised explosive device, and a rocket-propelled grenade in Old Dampi village.

These operations highlight the ongoing efforts to combat illegal arms and ammunition proliferation in Manipur, promoting safety and security in the region.

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