K Songlung incident : Army rebuts UNC claim
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 25 2013: The Red Shield Division has strongly condemned the 'false and malicious' allegations raised by the UNC and published in leading newspapers on June 25 alleging that the operation conducted in Shonglung area was a fake encounter.

A statement issued by the PIB (DW) today said that "such hysterical outcry by organizations who enjoy the patronage of 'armed' groups is a common practice and the security forces will not be diverted by such ridiculous propaganda from their main focus of acting decisively against all elements inimical to the cause of peace in Manipur" .

The PIB (DW) statement reiterated that security forces of the Red Shield Division had been working on reliable intelligence reports from various quarters about the presence of 15-20 heavily armed NSCN (K) militants in the area of Kangchup Reserve Forest, Haochang and Noney.

These militants belong to the Mobile Group No 8 of NSCN (K) and have been supplied with sophisticated arms and ammunition from Myanmar.

The group was operating in the areas astride the NH-37 and had chalked out a detailed plan to strike at security forces and Government officials in the area of Tamei, it said.

Based on these inputs, the Noney Battalion of the Red Shield Division had busted a camp of the group in the area of Leimatek River and recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition on June 18, it said while adding that it was followed by a well planned and coordinated operation in the area of Songlung.

During the intense cordon and combing cum search operation in the dense jungles, a heavily armed UG group opened fire on the troops deployed in the cordon.

After fierce exchange of fire for more than two hours and operation throughout the night, six NSCN (K) militants were killed.

Subsequently on June 24, the battalion also located and dismantled another temporary hideout of this group in the area of Old Noney and recovered a large quantity of ammunition, war like stores and rations.

The remaining members of the Mobile NSCN (K) Group are still at large and intensive operations are in progress to neutralise these militants, the PIB (DW) statement said.

The allegation that the cadres had been invited for a cup of tea with the Commanding Officer of Noney Battalion is ridiculous and defies logic, it asserted.

The security forces are operating against the militant groups and do not indulge in fraternising with such elements.

Moreover, the operation at Shonglung was launched on June 21 and neither Col Ajay Sharma nor Major Gagan were present in Nonei on June 22 as alleged by the UNC.

Shonglung is approximately 10 hours of travelling time from Nonei.

Therefore, the cadres could not possibly have travelled from Nonei to Shonglung on the same day after having tea with the Commanding Officer as alleged.

There are numerous other gaps and inconsistencies in the statement issued by UNC which do not merit any comment, it stated.

Comment