Government very serious of booking all : CM
'Inside hand' not ruled out in raid at SoO camp
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 11 2023: Claiming that the raid of April 8 at Horeb camp, a designated SoO camp, might be a plot of Kuki militant groups, Chief Minister N Biren Singh has stated that a special enquiry committee has been constituted to figure out how such a large cache of arms and ammunition were looted from the camp at Churachandpur.

An intensive manhunt is on to arrest the cadres involved in the raid, he continued.

The Chief Minister said this while interacting with a group of media persons by the sideline of the death anniversary observance of Maharaj Narasing at Kangla, today.

Notably, the raid team looted over two dozens of sophisticated weapons from the armoury of Horeb Camp at Chongkhozou Village under Henglep Sub Division, Churachandpur which houses cadres of United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA), Kuki National Front-Zogam (KNF-Z) and United Socialist Revolutionary Army (USRA) on April 8 .

Government very serious of booking all : CM

To a query, N Biren responded that the Manipur Government has taken the raid very seriously and as such formed a special enquiry committee to ascertain the facts of the matter.

He further said that a combined team of Assam Rifles and Manipur police has been carrying out extensive search operations to trace and book those who took away the guns and ammunition from the camp.

N Biren went on to state that the responsibility of protecting the camp lies with the militant groups which signed a Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact with the Governments at both the Centre and the State.

Claiming that most of the cadres of the three militant groups under SoO were not at Horeb camp during the time of the raid with only four sentries on guard, the Chief Minister continued that the Government has received information of the raid team looting the armoury by taking advantage of the absence of the cadres who are supposed to be at the camp.

He said that all perpetrators would be booked soon.

Stating that the Government has also initiated an investigation to figure out why many cadres were not at the camp when the raid was launched, N Biren maintained that the possibility of the weapons being looted through collusion between the cadres of SoO groups and KIA, which is not a signatory of the tripartite ceasefire pact with the Government, is being seriously studied.

"We take the matter very seriously," he reiterated.

Saying that the Government has been convening high level meetings with Assam Rifles and Manipur police to find out the truth, N Biren said that the Government will do whatever it can to book all the perpetrators.

As per police, the raid team was led by the commander in chief of KIA Thangkhongam Haokip alias Davidson (40) s/o Letkhosei Haokip of Matijang Khopi, Churachandpur.

Thangkhongam Haokip was declared a wanted man by the State police recently.

On the construction of Manipur Bhavan near Salt Lake Stadium at Kolkata, the Chief Minister said that Works Minister Govindas Konthoujam has already inspected the site to complete the construction this year itself.

The West Bengal Government had even started a process to cancel the land allotment as the work was delayed for a prolonged period, the Chief Minister informed and added that the Government is envisioning to complete the Bhavan as soon as possible.

He further stated that the BJP Government has reacquired the land at Gurgaon for building a Manipur Bhavan by paying Rs 14 crore.