155 UG cadres bid farewell to arms
Source: Hueiyen News Service / NNN

Imphal, September 09 2013: In all, 155 cadres of four different underground groups including eight cadres from major outfit Kanglei Yawon Kanna Lup (KYKL) bid farewell to arms today along with laying down a huge quantity of arms and ammunition before Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh during a home coming ceremony held at the banquet hall of Ist battalion Manipur Rifles here today.

Apart from the eight cadres from Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), other surrendered UG cadres included 44 of Kangleipak Communist Party-Nongdrenkhomba group (KCP-N), 50 of Kuki National Liberation Front (KNLF) and 53 of Kuki Revolutionary Front (KRF) .

Out of the four surrendered armed outfits, three of them namely KNLF, KRF and KCP-N also signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with the Central and state Governments to join the peace process being initiated by the State Government.

Accordingly, KNLF will be part of Kuki National Organisation (KNO), one of the two umbrella bodies of the Kuki militant organisations while KRF will be part of United Peoples Front (UPF), the other umbrella body of the Kuki underground outfits.

Both KNO and UPF are already engaged in SoO with the Government of Manipur and the Central Government.

155 UG cadres bid farewell to arms

During the signing of the MoUs, KNLF was represented by its Chairman Helun Haokip, Army Chief Thangboi Khongsai and Secretary Lalmoi Haokip, KRF by its Chairman Thanglenlal Dongel and General Secretary Henkholal Doungel while KCP-N was represented by its Commander-in-chief Ningthoujam Romen alias Nongdren Khomba and Chief of the Army Laishram Guni alias Gunamani.

On the other hand, the State and Central Governments were represented by Principal Secretary (Home) Dr Suresh Babu.

During the home coming ceremony which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, Chief Secretary PC Lawmkunga, Principal Secretary (Home) Dr J Suresh Babu, DGP MK Das, IFCD minister Ngamthang Haokip, MLAs and other top state police officials, the surrendered UG cadres also 95 different weapons and ammunition.

The surrendered weapons included 7 AK-56 (4 by KNLF and 3 by KRF), 2 AK-47 (one each by KNLF and KCP-N), 5 AK-22 (4 by KNLF and I by KCP-N), 4 SLRs by KNLF), 4 carbines ( 2 by KNLF and the other two by KCP-N)), 2 Sten-guns by KRF, 6 M-16 ( 5 by KNLF and 1 by KTF), 2 M-15 ( one each by KNLF and KRF), one M-A-1 by KRF, one point 32 Rifle by KNLF, one 60 mm Mortar by KNLF, 5 Lethod Guns (4 by KNLF and one by KRF), 1 RPG by KNLF,11 point 32 pistols (3 by KNLF, 6 by KCP-N and 2 by KYKL), 11 9 mm pistols ( 2 by KNLF, 3 by KRF, 4 by KCP-N and 2 by KYKL), 2 point 38 revolvers by KNLF, 10 grenades ( 5 by KNLF and another five by KCP-N)), 12 radio sets (8 by KNLF, 2 by KRF and 2 by KCP-N)), 4 point 303 rifles by KRF, 3 point 22 rifles by KRF, 5 Single Barrel Rifles by KRF, 1 9 mm rifle by KRF, one point 22 pistol by KRF, 3 Muzzle Loading Rifle by KRF, 15 IED bombs by KCP-N), 977 ammunition (972 by KNLF and 5 by KCP-N), 33 magazines (23 by KNLF and 21 by KRF), 3 Mortar Bombs by KNLF and 10 mortar bombs by KNLF.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh welcomed all the surrendered UG cadres and said that his Government has been putting efforts to bring peace and prosperity in Manipur.

Nonetheless, he made it clear that appropriate action will be taken up against any surrendered UG cadres under suspension of operation (SoO) if they were found involved in criminal activities.

The Chief Minister noted that rumours have been there that the Government has given license to UG cadres by signing SoO agreements with them, but the Government will take action against these UG cadres if they were found violating the Ground Rule.

He also suggested the people, particularly the NGOs to go together with the Government in addressing problems faced by the state, and appealed to them not to turn activities of the Government into issues.

The Chief Minister said that he was really delighted to show more UG cadres coming back to the mainstream.

KNLF general secretary Lalmoi, KRF general secretary Doungel and KCP-Nongdren Khomba commander-in-chief Nongdrenkhomba were also among others who spoke at the occasion.

They said that their decision to join the peace process was taken after seriously considering the sentiment and wishes of the people who want peace.

Further, they appealed to the Government to take more initiatives towards this end and pledged that they will maintain the Ground Rules mentioned in the MoUs.