Radical Meitei group Arambai Tenggol surrenders arms to Manipur Rifles camp

A team of the Arambai Tenggol led by several civil society groups carrying arms and ammunition in two -three vehicles entered the first Manipur Rifles camp, security sources said, adding that the number of arms and ammunition surrendered by the outfit was not known. “We are still taking over the consignment of arms and ammunition and after its verification, the actual number of arms and ammunition deposited by Arambai Tenggol will be known,” said a senior police officer involved in the process. Security sources said that some consignment of arms and ammunition are on its way. “It is in a huge quantity, difficult to reveal the exact number of arms and ammunition,” said a police officer, clarifying that only members of the civil society groups are allowed to move inside the camp where the surrender of arms and ammunition took place.

Media persons were not allowed to enter the camp where the surrender of arms and ammunition took place on Thursday afternoon.

It is significant that Meitei group Arambai Tenggol on Tuesday said it would give up illegal weapons only when its terms and conditions had been accepted.

The public relations officer of the outfit, Mr Robin Mangang Khwairakpamr , who was part of a delegation that met Manipur governor Ajay Bhalla, refused to specify the conditions and a timeline for the weapons surrender, saying that Arambai Tenggol would disclose them later.

The Arambai Tenggol also submitted a memorandum to Mr Bhalla demanding, among other things, Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the majority Meitei community. The violence in Manipur was triggered in May 2023 after a solidarity march against a proposal for ST status to Meiteis. Arambai Tenggol has been accused of killing Kuki tribals and destroying their homes.

Mobs looted weapons from the state armouries, police stations and outposts after the ethnic violence began. Around 2,500 of the 6,000 looted weapons have been recovered. The violence has claimed at least 260 lives, displaced around 60,000, and forced Meiteis and Kukis to withdraw to their respective strongholds. The Meiteis, mostly Hindu, live largely in the plains of the Imphal Valley, and the Kukis, predominantly Christian, in the hills. Fortified buffer zones now separate the two communities.

Earlier, security sources on Thursday said altogether 104 firearms and ammunition were voluntarily surrendered by the public in six districts of trouble-torn Manipur. Saying that these weapons were surrendered in Kangpokpi, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Imphal West and Kakching districts on Wednesday, a day before the seven-day deadline, security sources said Manipur governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla had on February 20 urged the people of the state to voluntarily surrender looted and illegally held weapons within seven days, assuring no punitive action would be initiated against those giving up arms during this period.

Earlier, Manipur chief secretary P.K. Singh told reporters that the seven-day time given for voluntarily surrendering weapons was enough if one wants to give up arms, and asserted that the forces would take action after the expiry of the period to recover such guns.