Police arrest 4 terrorist group members in Manipur for kidnap
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Imphal: Manipur Police arrested four members of a terrorist group in a case of kidnapping and assaulting a 23-year-old railway driver. The arrestees were caught in Manipur’s Imphal East district, and they belong to the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) group, NDTV reported.
In a statement Manipur Police gave on Friday, they said that KYKL is a terrorist group banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The group is notorious for their acts of extortion from common people in the state’s valley areas, while the population there is under severe hardships as the state economy is in ruins following the ethnic violence that broke out here in May last year.
Police said that railway driver Joshua Kamei was kidnapped from Noney district, and a police team raided a hideout of the terrorists to arrest the four. Police also recovered weapons, they said.
The arrestees are identified as Hijam Nikhil Singh (27), Hijam Thanglen Meitei (30), Thongam Ningthem Singh (32), and Gobin Elangbam (29).
Among the seizures were an SLR, a .303 rifle and two four-wheelers. Two drug users were also found during the operation. The users were reportedly under the terrorists’ custody.
In Imphal, many shop owners complained that activities of armed groups and banned terrorist organisations have increased in the region. They force them to pay despite failing businesses due to zero economic activity for over a year in the state.
In May 2023, deadly violence broke out between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes, who are dominant in the hill areas. The latter are settled in the hill areas of southern Manipur, bordering Myanmar and some areas in the north.
Out of the 39 terrorist organisations banned by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, eight are Meitiei outfits in Manipur.