On Saturday, police announced arrests of two members of the outlawed People Liberation Army (PLA) over their purported involvement in the fatal ambush of an Assam Rifles convoy on September 19 in Manipur, which killed two personnel and injured five others.
As per the official statement, the two who were arrested were primarily involved in the ambush on the 33 Assam Rifles unit at Nambol Sabal Leikai, Bishnupur district. Thongram Sadananda Singh, 18, alias Ngachik, alias Purakpa and self-proclaimed Lieutenant Corporal Chongtham Mahesh, 51, alias Momo or Amo Singh, have been identified as the accused.
On the one hand, police caught Chongtham Mahesh, a very senior cadre of the PLA who had been associated with the outfit since 1990, in Guwahati, Assam, with the help of the Crime Branch Police Station in that place. The police did not reveal the place where Thongram Sadananda Singh was picked, but they confirmed that both arrests were made in coordinated operations.
The arrests follow the arrest of the prime accused of the attack in Kameng in the Imphal West district closely. The crackdown against the insurgent groups in the region has been escalated by the police and paramilitary forces.
According to the officials, the PLA still has camps and bases beyond Indian territory, mostly operating on the other side of the border in Myanmar. The group has been engaged in separatist activities in Manipur long enough.
Two years ago, ethnic violence erupted on a large scale between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, and security operations in the state have been ongoing since then. More than 260 individuals were killed and thousands displaced since May 2023.
Following the unrest, the President was declared in Manipur following the resignation of the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.
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