Eight looted firearms recovered, one held
Source: Chronicle News Service

Thoubal, February 09 2025: Unidentified armed persons overpowered the IRB post set up at Kakmayai Upper Primary School under Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district, and stole arms and ammunition from the post.

According to reports, the armed assailants arrived in seven vehicles around 7:30 pm on Saturday.

They overpowered the IRB personnel and looted nine firearms, including three AK-47 and six SLR rifles.

A statement from the Police Control Room confirmed that about 30 individuals armed with sophisticated weapons raided the police outpost and looted the weapons after overpowering the personnel on duty.

However, the IRB personnel managed to detain one of the assailants, identified as Hijam Ningthem Singh (49) of Moirangpurel Mamang Leikai, later confirmed to be a member of the KCP.

During ongoing investigations and extensive search operations on Sunday, Manipur police recovered eight of the stolen weapons, including three AK rifles and five SLRs, from the Ngamukhong foothill area.

Meanwhile, reacting to looting of firearms, locals of Kakmayai staged a sit-in protest in front of the IRB post.

A meira paibi activist informed reporters that the villagers were forced to flee in the initial stages of the crisis that began on May 3, 2023 but returned and lived peacefully after the IRB post was established at Kakmayai.

However, following the looting of arms from the IRB post, the personnel stationed at Kakmayai have been pulled out.

With no security personnel currently in the area, the villagers have urged the state government to deploy security forces to safeguard the village and prevent such incidents from happening again.

During the protest, the participants held placards with messages such as "We condemn the looting of arms from security personnel protecting our villages" and "We want to live in peace" .

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