Heavily-armed militants attacked a convoy belonging to the 29th Assam Rifles in Chandel district of Manipur, killing five jawans and a junior officer. Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh orders strongest action
Imphal, May 22 : Six troopers were killed when an Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed on Sunday in Manipur’s Chandel district by insurgents of the Corcom, the apex body of six proscribed underground organisations, officials said.
The attackers also snatched four AK-47 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle, a light machine gun and ammunition, before fleeing the spot.
While intelligence sources said six personnel including a junior commissioned officer were killed, Assam Rifles and police, while confirming the incident, declined to disclose the exact casualty figures.
The convoy of 29 Assam Rifles was approaching Holenjang village from the main camp at Joupi in Chandel district bordering Myanmar at 1 p.m. when the insurgents detonated remote-controlled bombs and opened fire from several sides.
The exchange of fire lasted about one hour. As news of the incident was received, reinforcements were rushed to the spot and operations launched to apprehend the perpetrators, who are believed to have escaped to no man’s land between Manipur’s border with Myanmar.
On June 4 last year, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang and some other underground groups, had ambushed an army convoy in this district, killing 18 personnel of the Dogra Regiment on the spot and injuring 14 others.
ANI adds: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and five jawans of the 29 Assam Rifles were killed in an ambush reportedly by CorCom (Coordination Committee) militants at Hangshi, around 15 km from its battalion headquarter at Joupi village, in Chandel district of Manipur.
The ambush took place between Hengshi and Tuiyang villages around 12.30 p.m. when the JCO and other jawans were returning after inspecting a landslide scene in the locality. Four AK rifles, one INSAS Rifle and one LMG rifle have been taken away by the militants.
CorCom, which is responsible for many bombings, is an umbrella group in Manipur comprising the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro), Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF – the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army – PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and United Peoples Party of Kangleipak (UPPK).
PTI adds: Rajnath Singh orders “strongest” action.
Home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday directed security forces to take the “strongest possible action” against militants involved. Singh reviewed the situation with Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment, people familiar with the matter said. Singh also spoke to the Director General of the Assam Rifles, who apprised him of the situation and action taken so far.
According to a press statement from Assam Rifles, South Manipur, a convoy of Assam Rifles while returning after assessing a landslide area in Holingjang to the Battalion Headquarters location at Joupi in Chandel Distt of South Manipur had an encounter with suspected Valley Based Insurgent Group at 1 p.m. today. In the ensuing fire fight one Junior Commissioned Officer and five soldiers were martyred. The troops retaliated the insurgent fire effectively, however the insurgents managed to get away under thick forest cover and bad weather. The mortal remains of the martyrs are being sent to their home towns. The area of the encounter has been cordoned off and intensive combing operations have been launched to neutralize the insurgent group and prevent them from crossing over to Myanmar.