Imphal, Oct 23, 2024, IANS

Imphal, Oct 23 (IANS) The Army, Assam Rifles, and other Central forces in collaboration with Manipur Police continue to recover arms and ammunition in Manipur, with 11 more weapons and other war-like stores recovered from both hill and valley regions in the districts of Churachandpur, Chandel, and Thoubal during the past 24 hours, officials said. Defence sources said that intelligence-based operation launched in the Churachandpur district, the combined security forces recovered two country-made mortars (Pompi), one country-made pistol, grenades, explosives, ammunition, and war-like stores from the Thoroilok area, and one .303 rifle, one single-barrel rifle from Lamzang village near Bongbal village. In Chandel district, the Assam Rifles carried out combing operations in areas between Songkhom and Gunjil village and recovered one automatic weapon, two locally-made mortars (Pompi), one single-barrel gun, ammunition, and war-like stores. In another operation, Assam Rifles, along with Manipur Police recovered a cache of one 9 mm country-made pistol, one single-barrel breech-loading (SBBL) gun, two grenades, ammunition, and war-like stores from the general area of Kwarok Maring village in the Thoubal district. An Assam Rifles statement said that the successful recovery of these arms, ammunition, and war-like stores highlights the seamless cooperation between the Indian Army, Assam Rifles, and other law enforcement agencies, demonstrating their commitment to ensuring the security and safety of the region. With such operations, the security forces remain committed to their efforts to maintain peace and stability in the area, the statement said. Meanwhile, the police on Wednesday arrested a man on the charge of robbing more than Rs 6.49 lakh from a UCO bank branch in Manipur's Kakching district on October 16. A police official said that a Special Investigation Team of the state police also recovered more than Rs 3 lakh from the possession of the arrested man. On October 16, a masked man entered the bank by forcing the unarmed bank security guard and looted Rs 6.49 lakh after locking all bank staff inside the manager's room. The investigation of the robbery is on to recover the remaining amount and the weapons used in the crime, the official said.