Deadly arms in Manipur loot; recoveries after Shah appeal

Mobs stole deadly weapons including high-grade ammunition, AK-47s, sniper rifles and mortar shells in bulk from various armouries and police stations during the violence that rocked Manipur over the past month, an official assessment by the state police headquarters has revealed, even as local residents started returning their arms a day after Union home minister Amit Shah issued an appeal.

- Prawesh Lama

An official in the Manipur government said that the assessment showed that at least 500,000 bullets, including mortars, and 3,500 guns were stolen since violence first broke out on May 3. The mobs, this official added, took many two-inch and 51-inch mortars along with over 100 sophisticated sniper rifles.

“500,000 ammunition is a big number. The priority is to recover the ammunition. These could be used against the security forces in case of shoot outs,” said the official cited above, highlighting that the theft of such a large quantity of ammunition in a border state, where there are several militant groups, is alarming.

Shah’s appeal came on the last leg of his four-day visit to Manipur on Thursday, when he urged everyone to surrender their weapons to the security forces and administration. He also warned that a search-and-combing operation would be carried out in the state soon and anyone found to possess any weapon would be prosecuted.