11,763 ammo, 896 weapons, 200 bombs recovered in Manipur amid clashes

Local residents started returning weapons roughly a week ago, after Union home minister Amit Shah’s appeal on June 1.

Security forces in Manipur have recovered 11,763 pieces of ammunition, 896 weapons and 200 bombs so far, security adviser to the state government Kuldiep Singh said on Thursday, roughly a week after personnel started a combing operation to retrieve weapons stolen by mobs during clashes that roiled the state last month.

Though no official estimate of the quantum of weapons stolen exists, officials had earlier said that at least 500,000 pieces of ammunition, including grenades and mortars, and around 3,500 weapons were stolen in the riot-hit state.

Local residents started returning weapons roughly a week ago, after a June 1 appeal from Union home minister Amit Shah, who visited the strife-torn state for four days last month as part of efforts to pacify tensions and reach settlements between sparring groups.

Between then and June 8, officials recovered 144 weapons, while 750 were recovered before Shah’s visit, the officials cited above added.

Senior officials in the Manipur administration said they were confident of recovering a bulk of the stolen weapons, taken largely by rioting mobs. However, they warned that the entire process will take time, as clashes continued between Kukis and Meiteis, the two main warring communities. “We will be successful in recovering all the items. It will happen eventually,” said a state official, requesting anonymity.

Another official said the army’s recovery efforts were guided by technical inputs, as well as intelligence from informants. “The combing operation is carried out in pockets after receiving intelligence. It is not that every house is checked,” the second official said.

Since May 3, the northeastern state has been roiled by ethnic clashes largely between the Meitei and Kuki communities. At least 105 people have died, over 300 injured and nearly 40,000 displaced.

A third official said the recovery process may be protracted because some weapons were stolen by residents unaffiliated with militant groups.

“Even people who have no record or have links to militant groups took the ammunition taking advantage of being in a mob when violence was at its peak. Because the incidents of violence are still happening, it is possible most are not surrendering them,” said the official.

The stolen ammunitions included grenades, mortars and grenade launchers, said the official. “It is likely that the state administration will take stern steps if people do not recover the weapon…It may lead to passports being cancelled, their names removed from government programmes, or monetary losses recovered from them,” the third official added.