Mobs targeted two armouries belonging to the Manipur police in the Imphal East district of Manipur on Tuesday night.
According to officers familiar with the situation, the incident led security forces to open fire on the crowd, resulting in the death of at least one man.
It was also revealed that crowds of people gathered outside the Manipur Police Training College (MPTC) in Pangei village and the 5 India Reserve Battalion (IRB) headquarters in Chingarel to storm the armouries and loot weapons.
“There were two different mobs outside both places. At around 9 pm, the control room received information about the mob that entered the 5IRB. Within an hour, there was another piece of information about crowds trying to barge inside the armoury of MPTC. Central Security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. But when that did not deter the mob, some bullets were fired,” said an officer.
In an official statement, the Manipur police confirmed that one person, who was part of the mob, died due to firing by security forces.
Furthermore, the police announced the arrest of six individuals in connection with the arms looting case at the 5th IRB. They have been remanded into police custody by a judicial magistrate.
Authorities reported the recovery of four Insas Rifles, one AK Ghatak, 2 SLR magazines, and 16 small boxes of 9 mm ammunition suspected to have been looted from the 5th IRB armoury.
Over the past nine months, amid ethnic clashes in the state, mobs have targeted government armouries, resulting in the looting of 5,682 arms and 650,000 pieces of ammunition.
However, the Manipur police have managed to recover less than 1,800 arms and approximately 23,000 ammunitions, according to state police data.
