Tezpur: Manipur Police arrested 32 Myanmarese immigrants in a special operation along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur on Wednesday. Ten of the arrested immigrants were taken to Imphal by helicopter for further investigation while the other 22 were held at Moreh police station, a Manipur police official said.
According to sources, Manipur Police launched a massive manhunt following the killing of Moreh Sub-divisional police officer Singtham Anand Kumar. Kumar was apparently shot dead by a sniper while he was supervising the cleaning of a helipad in Moreh on Tuesday morning. After this incident, a team of Manipur police along with central security forces arrived in Moreh on Wednesday at around 2 pm and launched an operation in Moreh Morning Market Colony and surrounding areas.
The joint security forces, including special police commandos, India Reserve Battalion and Assam Rifles, arrested about 44 Kukies during successive raids. Among the 44 detained kukis 32 persons were found to be of Myanmarese origin. They entered Moreh without any valid documents, a Manipur police source said.
The security forces took 10 of the arrested Myanmar immigrants to Imphal by helicopter for further questioning. The immigrants are currently being held at the foreign detention center in Sajiwa area of Imphal East district. The police source said legal action will be taken against the Myanmar immigrants.
The sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) was killed, and three constables were hurt in two separate incidents perpetrated by militants in Moreh on Tuesday. In the second incident, a police team led by IG (Zone I) Themthing Ngasangva and DIG(Range II) Jogeshchandra Haobijam which was being dispatched to Moreh was attacked on the Imphal-Moreh highway resulting injury of three state police personnel. Cops said the three received injuries on their legs and were out of danger.
