Imphal, July 15 (IANS) In a significant development, the security forces in joint operation on Tuesday recovered 86 arms and around 974 different types of ammunition in restive Manipur, officials said.

A senior police official said that in the early hours of Tuesday, on the basis of specific Intelligence reports regarding the presence of a large cache of arms and ammunition stashed in different areas of five Imphal valley districts, simultaneous search operations were launched at different locations.

He said that joint teams of Manipur Police, Army, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) recovered a large cache of arms and a huge number of ammunition and war-like stores from the five Imphal valley districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching.

Of the 86 arms recovered, 16 are Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs), followed by nine rifles, five each of AK series rifles and 303 rifles, three INSAS rifles, 19 pistols, two carbines, 16 SBBL and Bore Action rifles, two anti-riot guns, and 11 other different types of guns.

The recovered ammunition includes grenades, high explosives, mortar shells, tube launching, and Improvised Explosive Devices. Forty-one assorted magazines and six wireless handsets were also recovered during the operations.

It said that the coordinated operations were launched simultaneously at multiple sites in the peripheral and suspected areas of the five valley districts.

These continued intelligence-led operations represent a major accomplishment for the Manipur Police and security forces in their continued mission to restore peace, uphold public order, and safeguard the lives and property of citizens, the statement said.

The Manipur Police reaffirms its commitment to fostering a peaceful and secure Manipur. The statement said: “The public is urged to cooperate with the Police and Security Forces and to promptly report any suspicious activity or information related to illegal arms to the nearest police station or the Central Control Room.”

Senior police officials remain in close coordination with all security stakeholders to ensure that such operations continue in a sustained and focused manner, aimed at restoring normalcy, maintaining public order, and safeguarding the lives and property of all citizens, the statement added.

Tuesday’s arms recovery is another major breakthrough within a month.

On July 4, the security forces in joint operations recovered 203 arms, mostly sophisticated and around 160 different types of ammunition from four hilly districts — Tengnoupal, Kangpokpi, Chandel, and Churachandpur. Earlier on June 14, security forces in joint operations recovered 328 arms and around 9,300 different types of ammunition from five Imphal valley districts — Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching.

–IANS

sc/dpb