Imphal, Feb 27: In response to Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla’s appeal, around 300 looted weapons, including many sophisticated arms, and a large cache of varied ammunition have been returned to various security forces during the past week, officials said on Thursday.

A senior police official said that more such looted arms and ammunition are likely to be returned to the authorities in the coming days.

The returned 300 looted arms include AK series rifles, carbines, self-loading rifles (SLR), single-barrel rifles, and mortars.

In a positive step, radical Meitei outfit Arambai Tenggol is likely to return over 200 arms and thousands of pieces of ammunition to the Manipur Police on Thursday or Friday, the official, who refused to be identified, said.

According to various reports during the ethnic riots between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 3, 2023, more than 6,000 different types of sophisticated arms and lakhs of pieces of different types of ammunition were looted from the police stations and outposts by the mobs and militants.

The security forces, so far, have recovered a substantial number of the looted arms.

After the Governor’s appeal made on February 20 to return the looted arms and ammunition, almost every day during the past week individuals and groups have been returning looted arms to Manipur Police, Army, Assam Rifles and other security forces in various districts, including Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, Imphal East, Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, and Bishnupur.

Manipur Director General of Police Rajiv Singh earlier said that arms and ammunition kept by a section of people must be returned to the authorities and dialogue between the warring communities would facilitate the restoration of peace and normalcy in the state.

He had said that the “reduction of weaponisation of the society” would greatly help normalise the situation and restore peace. He said that arms and ammunition which are still there in the society should return to the security forces, from where they were taken away or looted.

“Manipur Police and other Central forces are working round the clock to recover the arms and ammunition that were looted from the police and other security forces after the ethnic violence started in the state in May last year,” Singh had told the media.

During the search and combing operations in various districts, the Army, Assam Rifles, Manipur Police and other forces, during the past week, have dismantled over half a dozen illegal bunkers, set up by the armed groups and village volunteers of different communities. The security forces also destroyed illegal poppy plantations in vast areas in various hill districts. They also arrested more than 50 cadres of various militant outfits and armed groups including the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), the Kangleipak Communist Party-People’s War Group (KCP-PWG), and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) outfits.

Kolkata, Feb 27: The parents of the victim in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case have sought the appointment of the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complain about the reluctance of the investigating officials in updating them about the progress of the investigation.

The victim’s parents also left for Delhi on Thursday morning, and after reaching there, they will try to reach out to the CBI Director about the matter. At the national capital, they will also be meeting the team of lawyers who are representing them at the Supreme Court.

Noted advocate Karuna Nundy is currently representing the victim’s parents at the apex court, where the next hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 17.

Before leaving for Delhi, the victim’s parents interacted with the media persons and expressed their anguish on the role of CBI’s investigating officials in the matter. They also accused the investigating officers of not answering their phone calls.

“We are going to New Delhi to meet our counsel Karuna Nundy. The legal team who are representing us at the special court in Kolkata are also accompanying us to New Delhi. Some senior medical practitioners are also accompanying us. We will go to the CGO complex in New Delhi and try to meet the CBI director. At the same time, we will be discussing with our counsels on whether the matter can be brought back to Calcutta High Court from the Supreme Court,” the victim’s father told media persons before leaving for the national capital.

The victim’s mother said their main complaint against the CBI is the slow pace of investigation, especially as regards the angle of tampering with or altering of the evidence in the case.

The CBI counsel, on February 24, informed the special court in Kolkata that their investigation into the matter is underway and a supplementary charge sheet in the matter will be filed shortly. Incidentally, the special court had recently sentenced the sole convict in the crime, Sanjay Roy, to life imprisonment.

Jammu, Feb 27: The Indian Army on Thursday denied some media reports that said the army had suffered casualties in terrorist firing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor sector.

The firing had taken place on Wednesday. A defence statement said, “Terrorists opened fire at an Indian Army convoy in Sunderbani, Akhnoor, yesterday. The firing was ineffective, and our own troops responded swiftly. Some social media handles are falsely claiming casualties to own troops. This is false and deliberate disinformation. Search operations are presently underway to neutralize the perpetrators.”

Reports said that terrorists fired at a vehicle of the Army in the Sunderbani area of the Akhnoor sector, but no casualty was reported in the attack.

Joint forces had started massive searches in the area after the incident on Thursday, but there were no reports of any ‘contact’ (exchange of fire) with the terrorists.

Due to scant snowfall on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir this winter, intelligence agencies said all the traditional infiltration routes of the terrorists have remained open. To thwart infiltration from across the LoC, the army and the security forces are maintaining high vigilance on the LoC and the hinterland.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired two top-level security review meetings on Jammu and Kashmir in Delhi earlier this month.

The Home Minister ordered the security forces to ensure zero infiltration and zero tolerance for terrorists.

Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha also chaired two security meetings, one in Srinagar and the other in Jammu. The L-G directed police and the security forces to dismantle the terror ecosystem by targeting terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers.

L-G Manoj Sinha said that the funds generated by hawala rackets, drug smuggling and drug peddling are finally used to sustain terrorism in J&K, and the war against drugs is also to be seen as the war against terrorism in Jthe union territory.