Mob targets armouries in strife-torn Manipur, one shot dead by forces
In an official statement, the Manipur police said that one person, who was part of the mob, died in firing by security forces.
Two armouries of the Manipur police were targeted by mobs in the Imphal East district of the state Manipur on Tuesday night, prompting the security forces to open fire on the crowd, resulting in the death of at least one man, officers aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
According to officers, crowds of people gathered outside the Manipur Police Training College (MPTC) in Pangei village and 5 India Reserve Battalion (IRB) headquarters in Chingarel, looking to storm the armouries and loot weapons.
“There were two different mobs outside both places. At around 9 pm, the control room received information about the mob that entered the 5IRB. Within an hour, there was another information about crowds trying to barge inside the armoury of MPTC. Central Security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. But when that did not deter the mob, some bullets were fired,” said an officer aware of the matter, adding that a large cache of arms was stolen.
In an official statement, the Manipur police said that one person, who was part of the mob, died in firing by security forces.
“In order to repel violent mobs including armed miscreants trying to storm MPTC, Pangei, security forces resorted to use of legal force. During the incident, one person succumbed to injuries and three persons sustained injuries,” the statement said.
It added: “In connection with the incident of arms looting case of 5th IRB../Manipur Police have arrested six persons and they have been remanded into police custody by judicial magistrate.”
The police said that they have recovered, four Insas Rifles, one AK Ghatak, 2 magazines of SLR and 16 small boxes of 9 mm ammunition, which were suspected to have been looted from 5th IRB armoury.
In the last 9 months, as ethnic clashes roiled the state, mobs have looted arms and ammunition from state government’s armouries. A total of 5,682 arms and 650,000 pieces of ammunition were reported looted by the mobs. Of this, Manipur police have recovered less than 1800 arms and just around 23000 ammunitions, according to state police data.
