Manipur ambush: Joint forces intensify hunt for Assam Rifles personnel attackers

IMPHAL — The joint Central and state police forces intensified their search operations on Sunday to nab the armed group, who killed two Assam Rifles personnel and injured five others, in Manipur's Bishnupur district, officials said.

A police official said that security forces, comprising Assam Rifles and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) continued their massive search operation in Bishnupur and adjoining Thoubal, Noney and Imphal West districts to nab the perpetrators.

He added that in the ongoing search operation, two suspected persons were detained from Shantipur and Ishok areas of Bishnupur district and further verifications about them are underway.

One Maruti Van, suspected to have been used in the ambush, was recovered from Mutum Yangbi in the same Bishnupur district.

The vehicle was found nearly 12 km from the incident site.

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As per preliminary investigation, multiple owners of the vehicle have been identified and efforts are still underway to unearth more details.

Investigation is in full swing, the official said.

Meanwhile, another official said on Sunday that following the heinous attack on Assam Rifles on Friday, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla reviewed the prevailing security situation in a meeting held at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday night.

Manipur Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, Chief Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh, Army's Eastern Command chief Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tiwari, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Home) N. Ashok Kumar, General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of 3 Corps Lieutenant General Abhijit S Pendharkar, senior police Assam Rifles, BSF, CRPF and other intelligence officials along with other police and military officers attended the meeting.

The official added that during the meeting, a detailed discussion was held on the ill-fated incident in which two soldiers of the Assam Rifles made the supreme sacrifice and five others sustained bullet injuries.

According to the official, the discussion in the meeting stressed the need for coordinated action among all security agencies to ensure swift identification of the perpetrators.

It was also resolved that security arrangements must be further strengthened in vulnerable and sensitive areas, including highways, transit routes, and border zones, he said.

Enhanced patrolling, intensified intelligence gathering, and stronger inter-agency coordination were emphasised to prevent such incidents in the future.

The Governor underscored that law and order must be maintained with firmness and vigilance across both the valley and hill districts to ensure peace and public safety.

Defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Amit Shukla had said that in a deeply moving ceremony held under the aegis of headquarters Inspector General Assam Rifles (South) on Saturday evening, heartfelt tributes were paid to Naib-Subedar Shyam Gurung (59) and Rifleman Ranjit Singh Kashyap (36).

Gurung hails from Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district while Kashyap is a resident of Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.

Two Assam Rifles personnel were killed and five others injured when a group of unidentified armed cadres attacked a vehicle of the paramilitary force along the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway (NH-2) in Bishnupur district's Nambol Sabal Leikai area on Friday evening.

A Defence spokesman had said that a column of troops of Assam Rifles was moving from its Patsoi company operating base to Nambol company operating base when it was ambushed in the general area of Nambol Sabal Leikai by unidentified terrorists on the highway in the denotified area of Manipur.

The five injured Assam Rifles personnel are now under medical treatment at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal, the spokesman said, adding that they are currently stable.

The Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958, (AFSPA) was earlier lifted from the Nambol Sabal Leikai area.

As of now, no militant group or organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, the first major violent incident after the imposition of President's Rule in Manipur on February 13 this year.

In the routine search operations, the security forces have arrested three militants belonging to different banned outfits, and an arms dealer from a different district.

The three militants belonging to People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and People's Liberation Army (PLA) were arrested from Imphal East and Bishnupur districts and the arms dealer was nabbed from Imphal west district.

According to the police, the three militants were involved in extortion activities from the people, employees, shops, local businessmen, schools in and around Tronglaobi area.

From their possession, two mobile handsets along with SIM cards were seized.

From the possession of the arms dealer identified as Phijam Chetanjit Singh (33), one self-loading rifle (SLR) with 2 magazines, 46 number of 7.52 mm SLR live rounds, 30 number of 5.56 mm INSAS live rounds, 17 number of .303 live rounds, one 7.62 mm AK live round, one 5.56 mm Amogh live round and a mobile handset were recovered.