Two More PLA Militants Held For Manipur Ambush

(MENAFN- IANS) Imphal, Sep 27 (IANS) Two hardcore cadres of the banned militant outfit People's Liberation Army (PLA), involved in the September 19 ambush, in which two Assam Rifles personnel were killed and five others injured in Manipur's Bishnupur district, were arrested, officials said on Saturday.

A police official said that two cadres of the PLA who were involved in the September 19 ambush on the Assam Rifles at Nambol Sabal Leikai in Bishnupur district were arrested on Friday night from Imphal West District. The apprehended militants were identified as Thongram Sadananda Singh alias Ngachik alias Purakpa (18) and self-styled Lt Corpl Chongtham Mahesh alias Momo alias Amo Singh (51).

According to the police official, self-styled Lt Corpl Chongtham Mahesh is a very senior cadre of the banned outfit PLA. He was associated with the PLA outfit since 1990. Chongtham Mahesh was arrested in Guwahati with assistance from the Crime Branch Police Station of Assam.

Earlier, on September 24, the security forces arrested the prime accused of the September 19 ambush. The main accused of the September 19 ambush, Khomdram Ojit Singh alias Keilal, 47, was arrested from the Kameng area in Imphal West district. He is also associated with the extremist outfit PLA.

Raids are being carried out in different places of Imphal valley to apprehend other culprits and associates of Khomdram Ojit Singh who are involved in the September 19 ambush, the official said. Defence spokesman Lt Col Amit Shukla earlier said that an Assam Rifles team was returning from flood relief operations in the Imphal Valley when their convoy was ambushed by an unidentified insurgent group along the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway-2 in Bishnupur district on September 19. Assam Rifles' Naib-Subedar Shyam Gurung, 59, and Rifleman Ranjit Singh Kashyap, 36, were killed in the ambush.

Gurung hailed from Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district, while Kashyap was a resident of Chhattisgarh's Bastar district.

Meanwhile, the security forces in separate operations also arrested four more militants belonging to three extremist outfits – PLA, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) – during the past 24 hours. The militants were arrested from Bishnupur, Imphal East and Imphal West districts.

The arrested PLA militant was involved in collecting and sharing information about the security personnel's movement in the Bishnupur district. From his possession, one mobile phone along with one SIM card was seized. The KYKL and the KCP militants are involved in extortion from contract works of government institutes like Manipur University, the Industrial Department, and the Schools.

Both central and security forces have been conducting search operations in Manipur, especially in Imphal valley and hilly areas, since ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2024. More than 260 men, women and children have been killed, and over 70,000 people have been rendered homeless in ethnic violence between the majority Meiteis and tribal Kuki-Zo groups.

After the prolonged violence, the Centre imposed the President's rule in Manipur on February 13, four days after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned. The 60-member state Assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.

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