77 firearms surrendered on last day of deadline
50 pc of looted weapons recovered, deadline may not be extended
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, March 06 2025: As the deadline for surrendering looted and illegally held weapons set by the Governor ended on Thursday, at least 77 firearms including 34 in the valley and 43 in hill districts along with large number of ammunition, explosives and other military gears were handed over to security authorities on Thursday in different districts.

Over 850 firearms have been submitted to the authority till date after the Governor made his first appeal on February 20 .

The combined force of 19 Gar-hwal Rifles, 2 Mahar Regiment, 5 Sikh Regiment, CRPF and BSF have received large cache of weapons surrendered from various volunteers and individuals in Churachandpur district on Thursday, according to SP Prakhar Pandey.

77 firearms surrendered on last day of deadline

The weapons were surrendered from Sangaikot, Dampi, Haichenglok and Kangvai areas.

All together 43 arms, 213 ammunition and munition, 12 explosives along with 167 other types of weapons were handed over to security forces, the SP said while assuring that further efforts would be made to encourage more individuals surrender illegal arms.

However, there is no detail of the number of prohibited bore (PB) and non-prohibited bore (NPB) firearms.

On the other hand, 34 firearms, including 15 PB such as SLR, AK, INSAS and SKS rifles, sten guns, and 9mm and .45 pistols, along with 19 NPB like .32 pistols, single and double-barrel guns, were handed over to different police stations and security establishments in the valley districts.

Additionally, large quantities of ammunition, explosives, tactical equipment, and other military gear were also surrendered.

One firearm, several rounds of ammunition, explosives, and other equipment were surrendered to the commandant of 6th IRB Dr S Ibomcha Singh and his team.

A total of 10 firearms including two Pumpi guns, over 300 rounds of ammunition, several explosives, equipment, and tactical gears were also surrendered to Dr S Ibomcha, who is the in-charge of Special CDO Unit, Khabeisoi, and OC subedar L Bebekananda Singh.

At Sagolmang police station in Imphal East, five firearms, over 200 rounds of ammunition, several explosives, and other equipment were handed over in the presence of senior officials from CRPF and BSF.

Kakching district police received 17 firearms, over 100 rounds of ammunition, several explosives, other equipment & tactical gears.

At the 3rd IRB, Khangabok in Thoubal district, one firearm, several rounds of ammunition, explosives, and equipment were surrendered.

Meanwhile, News18 reported that total of 800 weapons have been surrendered and recovered by the police in Manipur since the imposition of President's Rule in the state.

It quoted a top-level official as saying that nearly 50 per cent of the looted police weapons have been recovered so far.

Sources also confirmed that the deadline to surrender weapons is unlikely to be extended, and the next round of action will be initiated.

"We are not keen on extending the deadline for surrendering weapons, as it has already been extended once.

Those who wanted to surrender voluntarily have adhered to the deadline.

Since the deadline ends on Thursday, we will immediately begin the next round of action," a top-level government official told News18.The official added: "Forces have been instructed to conduct operations to recover weapons.

These operations will be intelligence-based, and different agencies are already on the job".

Speaking about the weapons, the official said that so far, 1,366 out of approximately 5,200 looted police weapons have been recovered.

Additionally, nearly 1,300 more weapons have had their unique ID numbers erased, but they are also among the looted police weapons, making the recovery figure more than 2,600 .

In total, around 5,800 weapons were looted, but approximately 600 were either seized or surrendered and do not belong to the police, the senior official stated.

According to a senior official, the next step to ensure reopening of roads will focus on encouraging members of the Meetei and Kuki communities to travel through areas dominated by the other group.

Meeteis will be encouraged to use the hill route to travel to Nagaland and other regions, while Kukis will be encouraged to travel to the valley area.

Those who wish to travel to each other's areas will be provided with police escorts and protection, and buses will be deployed from various locations.

The official also stated that this system was introduced in December, but following a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, it will now be emphasised further.

"There are people who want to travel to Imphal for the airport, and locals who used to travel to Nagaland through the hill areas.

However, this was disrupted due to the ongoing situation and violence.

Now, the administration will either operate buses or provide protection for those who wish to use private vehicles to travel to each other's areas.

We are hopeful that people will gradually start using these services.

Currently, hardly anyone is using them," another senior official told News18 .

(With inputs from News 18) .