New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed its chargesheet in a case related to the unrelenting violence in the sensitive, border state of Manipur.
Its findings point to a connection between arms looted in raids on police armouries and those recovered from individuals said to have a hand in organising the violence.
The chargesheet also refers to “weapons training camps” organised by cadres of a proscribed Meitei insurgent group.
It says that all these acts were done “with the intention to carry out violent terror acts against the rival Kuki Zo community members.”
Violence in Manipur, which ignited on May 3, 2023 is yet to be brought under control and so far has claimed 224 lives, displaced over 60,000 people and destroyed hundreds of properties.
A viral video of a mob attacking and parading women after disrobing them became a subject of major national concern.
Eight months after the arrest of Moirangthem Anand Singh, identified by the NIA as cadre of the proscribed Meitei insurgent group, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – not to be confused by the Chinese armed forces that go by the same name – the central agency has stated in a special court in New Delhi that Singh took part in a “weapons training camp” organised by PLA cadres Oken Singh and Yaiphapa at an ecological park in Imphal during the period of violence in Manipur
It said that “80-90 youths were trained” in this camp “to handle firearms”.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.