INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: A warlike arsenal of assault rifles, light machine guns, mortars, carbines and assorted small arms looted from state armouries in
Manipur is still out there in the hands of rioters and feuding groups, feeding the veins of the bloody ethnic conflict raging in the state
for more than two months.Of the combined loot of 4,000-odd weapons snatched by mobs from several police armouries, patrol teams and even the
exhibit room of the state forensic laboratory in the first few weeks of the violence since May 3, barely 1,100 have been recovered or
demolish 1300 illegal arms on streetOfficials said almost every variant of sophisticated weapons supplied by Indian ordnance factories to
the state armed forces was part of the loot now being used to keep Manipur on the boil
The Amogh (meaning unerring) carbine, for instance, is a select-fire personal defence weapon designed and manufactured by the Ordnance
Factories Board.The Excalibur rifle derives its genes from the Insas rifle, also an indigenously developed and manufactured weapon
The Ghaatak assault rifle was designed specifically for counter-insurgency operations.FIRs registered at different police stations regarding
location and walking away with weapons.Apart from the arms, the mobs also looted daylight telescopes for Insas rifles, passive night-vision
binoculars, bayonets, bullet-proof helmets, tear-gas guns and shells, stun grenades and anti-riot guns, among other equipment.The largest
loot took place on May 28 at the headquarters of the 8th India Reserve (Commando) Battalion at Khabeisoi in Imphal East district
Punsiba Kabrambam, the inspector (adjutant) of the battalion, states in his FIR at Heingang police station that a mob of around 10,000
people "armed with weapons, catapults and iron rods" surrounded the battalion headquarters and attacked the personnel.The commandos used
tear gas and stun grenades, followed by firing in the air to disperse the mob
The rioters carried on undaunted, breaking down the main gate and barging into the armoury.The weapons they snatched included nine AK rifles
with 256 magazines and 6,520 units of ammunition, 165 Insas rifles with 934 magazines and 44,770 units of ammunition, 57 Insas LMGs with 53
magazines, and MP-5 and a magazine, eight Excalibur rifles with 50 magazines, 69 pistols (9mm) along with 142 magazines and 1,200 units of
live ammunition, and 58 carbines with 234 magazines and 24,570 units of ammunition.On May 4, a mob of about 5,000 looted the four armouries
at the Manipur Police Training College at Pangei
The FIR states that 157 Insas rifles, 54 SLRs, 34 carbines, 22 Insas LMGs and 19 pistols (9mm) were snatched
All of these belonged to 7th IRBN
The college lost its own weapons, which includes 91 rifles, 44 SLRs, 18 Insas rifles, among other arms.The same day, another mob at Sambei
Awang Leikai waylaid a team of the 6 Manipur Rifles and snatched weapons from the five personnel
In Churachandpur, an armed group looted the district police HQ armoury, taking away 154 303 rifles, 71 SLRs, 27 Insas rifles, 27 sub-machine
carbines, 11 AK rifles and five 51mm mortars, among others.Mobs also stormed the directorate of forensics sciences at Pangei, vandalised it
and looted the exhibited arms and ammunition.
