Imphal: Manipur Police have arrested three men over the killing of three firewood collectors at Sunulok Hill, and recovered 12 firearms, 1,095 rounds of ammunition and a cache of explosives, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo said on Tuesday.
Two of the three admitted during preliminary questioning that they were part of the assault team, he said. The role of the third is still being investigated. The three were picked up in joint operations by Manipur Police, the CRPF and CoBRA around Sagolmang police station limits.
The firearms seized included an INSAS rifle, an M16, an AK-47/Type-81, a 7.62mm sniper rifle, a Heckler & Koch 5.56mm rifle, three 12-bore guns, a Lethod gun and a handmade rocket launcher. Explosives recovered included TNT slabs, rifle grenades, a Chinese hand grenade, handmade mortars and detonators, the ADGP said.
The three killed were among 14 Meitei villagers cutting firewood at Sunulok Hill, along the Imphal East-Kangpokpi boundary, on October 19. Three others were injured. The killings triggered protests, with demonstrators taking the bodies to the Chief Minister's bungalow in Imphal.
In a separate operation, security forces detained 17 people at the designated Sinai camp after their identities did not match listed cadres of the Kuki National Organisation and the Kuki Liberation Army, Mr. Lhatoo said.
A 48-hour statewide shutdown called by the Native Peoples Committee Manipur continued. On Wednesday morning, several houses were set on fire in an abandoned village in Kamjong district, police said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said "Manipur is bleeding again" and asked how many more lives must be lost. He said over 300 people have died since May 2023 and 24,530 remain in relief camps, and posed three questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.