6K arms looted, but only 3,000 surrendered in Manipur drive

With March 6 being the deadline for surrendering illegally procured arms and ammunition in Manipur — set by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla — only around 3,000 weapons and 37,000 rounds of ammunition had been recovered by Thursday evening.

However, these numbers represent only a fraction of the weapons looted from police stations and armouries following the outbreak of ethnic violence in May 2023. Estimates suggest that over 6,000 arms and approximately six lakh rounds of ammunition were taken from police armouries by various groups. In comparison, the number of weapons surrendered between February 20 and March 6 remains insignificant.

Moreover, most of the surrendered arms — whether by groups or individuals — are country-made weapons such as ordinary pompi guns, self-loading rifles, single-barrel guns, hand grenades and crude bombs. In contrast, the looted weapons from police armouries were far more sophisticated, sources said.

Meitei group’s march halted

New Delhi: Days after Home Minister Amit Shah had directed the Manipur administration to open all roads in the state for free movement, sources have informed that decks have been cleared to allow smooth access on all key roads and highways, especially NH-2 (also known as Imphal-Dimapur road, the only major road route, which connects Manipur to Nagaland and which has remained closed since May 2023). In another related development, a planned march on March 8 by Meitei groups to the state’s hill areas has been stopped by the state administration.

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The actual number of arms surrendered varies across security forces. Assam Rifles reportedly received around 3,000 weapons and 37,000 rounds of ammunition, but figures from other sources are significantly lower. Security establishment sources told this correspondent that as of March 5, the number of recovered rounds of ammunition was less than 1,000.

On February 20, Bhalla urged all ethnic groups to surrender illegal weapons within a week, assuring that those who complied within the deadline would not face action. However, he warned that punitive measures would be taken against those failing to do so after the deadline. The original surrender deadline of February 27 was extended to March 6 following requests from various quarters.

The move was seen as an effort to restore peace in Manipur following the imposition of President’s Rule on February 13, soon after Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s resignation.