3 Manipur rebels held in Assam

Guwahati, Nov. 27: Three militants of the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council) of Manipur were arrested from a rented house at Mirza near here in Kamrup district today.

The militants, identified as “organisation and finance secretary” Amom Mema Devi alias Madhuri, 45, self-styled sergeant major Nanao Singh, 26, and cadre L. Jiten Singh, 21, were netted in a joint operation by commandos of Bishenpur police, the army’s Leimakong-based 57 Infantry Division and Assam police.

“We had been on their trail for the past one month,” a source said.

Jiten Singh is the brother of KCP (MC)’s general secretary Cheren Lakpa. He and Mema Devi hail from Thoubal district while Nanao Singh is from Imphal West.

Mema Devi was in charge of recruiting cadres, arranging money for the outfit and medical treatment for cadres in hospitals here.

Nanao Singh is one of the most wanted cadres of the outfit and was involved in hurling grenades at chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh’s house in October 2008, in planting the car bomb found inside Raj Bhavan in Imphal in September 2009 and in the killing of an assistant engineer of the Manipur PWD last year.

The sources said Mema Devi has been living in the rented house for the past six months while the cadres kept coming and going.

Lakpa had also stayed there for some time before leaving for an undisclosed location a few days ago.

“We have some information about his whereabouts which we are checking out,” a source said. Security personnel recovered incriminating documents, photographs and medicines from the house.

“We had been on their trail for the past one month and achieved success today. It was a determined and painstaking effort on our part that led to the arrests,” the source said.

“Based on the confessions (of the arrested), search operations have been launched in Manipur valley to locate arms and ammunition dumps of the outfit,” he added.

An army source said the 57 Infantry Division had earlier carried out similar operations against Manipur outfits in Bangalore and Delhi.