Passengers looted by miscreants in interior Manipur

 Imphal: Passengers of four buses, coming from Guwahati to Imphal, have been looted by armed miscreants at Kangpokpi area in Manipur's Senapati district, official sources said .

About five armed persons stopped the buses at gunpoint at Kangpokpi area, about 25 km north of here yesterday, and looted the passengers their belongings including mobile phones, wrist watches, cash and othe valuable things worth some lakhs of rupees.

After keeping the buses and passengers in captivity for more than 40 minutes, the buses along with the passengers were allowed to go to Imphal, sources said adding that the drivers stopped the vehicles at Sekmai area, about 10 km north of here and lodged a complaint with the police station there.

The police forces both from Sekmai and Kangpokpi rushed to the spot where the incident took place and launched
a search operation at the nearby hill areas but no arrest was made, sources said adding that the militants of several Kuki outfits were active in the area.

Reports from Senapati district said several militant outfits were collecting their monthly or yearly ransom from vehicles plying along Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati national highway 39 for the past many years in spite of deployment forces along the highway.