Lamka, March 19 2009: The proscribed PREPAK has claimed responsibility for the ambush launched against troops of 12 Maratha Light Infantry at Chumba Maring road, to the south of Oinam Mamang Khumannung at about 8.45 pm yesterday.

In a press release issued by its secretary in-charge of the Department of publicity and propaganda Aheiba Angom, the outfit claimed that the ambush was undertaken by a small unit of its Red Army.

Disclosing that commander of 12 MLI's Maibam Lotpaching post Lieutenant Satvir Singh was killed in the ambush while two others were injured, the outfit informed that all the Red Amy cadres involved in the ambush have reached the camp safe and sound.

For the last many years, security forces have been killing people of the land in stage-managed fake encounters after taking them into their custody, it alleged while conceding that the ambush could not yield the exact results as desired by the Red Army.

However, the Red Army cadres who could kill a post commander by engaging security forces near their own camp deserved appreciation, it noted.

Referring to newspaper reports which presented the ambush and the attack at the residence of LDA EE Oinam Ibopishak at Oinam Mamang Leikai as if the two incidents were connected, the outfit clarified that Red Army cadres who undertook the ambush and those who attacked residence of the EE were not related in any manner.

The outfit would not condemn the recent attacks against some Congress workers, it asserted.

Saying that the individuals being targeted were not included in the lists compiled by the outfit earlier, it asked the people to judge themselves whether the outfit was involved or not in these attacks.

Yet there is no change to the outfit's stand to target only those close to Chief Minister O Ibobi in case the alleged practice of security forces killing people without putting the victims on trial is stopped.