Confounded by 'intermittent' looting of state forces armories, The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has stated that the looting of armory and the subsequent attacks, once again, substantiated lawlessness and anarchy in the State, a clear manifestation of N. Biren Singh's hypocrisy and fallacy in his autocratic regime.
In a press statement issued on Saturday, the Kuki apex body stated that the Kukis are confounded by the intermittent looting of state forces' armories which in all cases have been executed without any restraint from the police or security agencies in the state.
"The latest incident of state forces' armory looting came to light at IRB's headquarter ,Bishnupur, wherein more than 19,000 rounds of bullets of different calibres, an AK series assault rifle, three 'Ghaatak' rifles, 195 self-loading rifles, five MP-5 guns, 16 9mm pistols, 25 bulletproof jackets, 21 carbines, 124 hand grenades among others, were looted by the Meitei hoodlums," KIM said, adding that with all the looted arms and weapons in their possession, the Meiteis, aided and abetted by the State forces crossed the buffer zones and carried out offensive attacks on the Kukis in 5 August.
The attacks has resulted in a considerable number of casualties with as many as four Kuki-Zo Village volunteers dead and another seven village volunteers injured, KIM stated.
The Kuki apex body demanded the Central government and the Ministry of Home Affairs to indicate what preventative measures and security review measures have they put in place to make sure that the remaining armouries in the state are impregnable in view of the fact that heartless Meitei criminals will stop at nothing to access them.
KIM further stated that the Meitei criminals and their 'sponsors' must be stopped, arrested and all the looted weapons recovered as well as be made to face prosecution.
"As the situation in the state is deteriorating on a daily basis, it is pertinent on the part of the Government of India to act decisively and promptly before the beleaguered State is plunged into a full anarchy," KIM said.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128