Suspected KIA militants loot arms & ammunition for SoO camp in Manipur

The KIA team led by its self-styled commander-in-chief Thangkhongam Haokip alias Davidson along with around 14 other miscreants raided the SoO camp of Horeb camp

PTI, Imphal, Apr 9, 2023 :  Suspected Kuki Independent Army (KIA) militants looted arms and ammunition from a Suspension of Operation (SoO) designated camp in Manipur’s Churachandpur district bordering Myanmar, police said on Sunday.

The SoO camp is a place where cadres of militant outfits with which the government has signed a suspension of operation stay.

The KIA militants “overpowered” those present in the Horep designated SoO camp under Henglep sub-division of the district at around 1 am and looted large number of sophisticated arms and weapons including explosives, a police officer told PTI.

“Wide scale combing operations launched in routes along which the militants might have fled but no arrest has been made,” the officer said.

The development comes a few days after the state government declared the self-styled ‘Commander-in-chief’ of KIA Thangkhongam Haokip as ‘Wanted’ for his involvement in “frequent kidnapping for ransom/extortion/bombing cases.” A reward of Rs 50,000 was also announced by the state for any information of his whereabouts.

At least 14 designated camps for SoO militants are set up by the government in various hill districts of the state to house cadres of the tribal outfits under specific ground rules.

The state government is observing tripartite talks with at at least 25 Kuki underground outfits along with the Central government.

The SoO pact which was first signed in 2008 for initiating political talks is broadly divided into umbrella groups of Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People’s Front (UPF).

The state government in March had pulled out of Suspension of Operations agreement with Kuki National Army and Zomi Revolutionary Army, alleging of their involvement in agitation against the state government measures to check encroachment of forest areas.  

Imphal Free Press: A team of the proscribed Kuki Independent Army (KIA) around 7.30 pm on Saturday raided Horeb SoO camp, Chongkhozou at Henglep subdivision in Churachandpur district and looted a large cache of arms and ammunition from the camp.

According to sources, the KIA team led by its self-styled commander-in-chief Thangkhongam Haokip alias Davidson along with around 14 other miscreants raided the SoO camp of Horeb camp, Chongkhozou at Henglep subdivision which is situated 45 km Southwest of Henglep police station in Churachandpur district. 

The 15 men in camouflage fatigue outfits raided the camp and overpowered the four sentries and seized their weapons, it stated. As there were only four sentries at the camp barrack during the incident, they were outnumbered by the KIA team, it added.

After leaving the four sentries tied up, the KIA team broke into their Keeper of Technical Equipments (KOTE) and looted their arms, magazine and ammo etc., it mentioned.

It informed that from ‘UTLA’, KIA looted one SLR with two rounds, one 7.62 mm pistol with one mag with one round, two 0.32 pistols with one mag with two rounds, one 9 mm pistol with one round, one 0.65 pistol with one round, one 9 mm country-made pistol with one round, one AK 47 with 101 rounds, and two Lethode bombs.

From ‘KNF-Z’, they took three AK 56 with two mags with 37 rounds, two M 16 magazines with 420 rounds, 14 ladies carbine rounds, one carbine magazine, one 0.303 rifle, and one 7.62 pistol with one mag with four rounds, it continued.

It stated that from ‘USRA’, they took two carbine magazines with 32 rounds, 12 SBBL rounds, 126 7.62 mm rounds and one telescopic sight. They also took one SLR with one mag and one 7.62 mm pistol with one mag with three rounds from the ‘camp protection’, it mentioned. The KIA team took the mobile phones of the four sentries but left one of their country-made single-barrel defective SBBL guns, it added.

It further stated that the four sentries later managed to free themselves and one of them went to the Chongkhozou village which is 2 km away from the camp around 12 am and informed their commander.

It stated that on receiving information about the incident, the Churachandpur district police led by Churachandpur SP along with three teams of district police and two teams of C-Coy, 36 Assam Rifles led by captain Amit Kumar Mishra arrived at the camp. The Churachandpur police examined the incident and commenced further investigation, it added.