CBI files chargesheet against five in Manipur arms loot case

The case pertain to a mob storming into the Manipur Police Training College’s (MPTC) Pangei complex on May 4, 2023 and allegedly looting a huge cache of arms and ammunition

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against five people in a case of looting of arms and ammunition from Manipur Police personnel last year in May.

Ethnic clashes between the tribal Kukis and dominant Meiteis first erupted on May 3 last year. (File photo)

According to a press release issued by the agency, the charge sheet was filed before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Kamrup (Metro) in Guwahati for the looting of arms and ammunition from Manipur Police Training College (MPTC) at Pangei in Imphal on May 4 last year.

Following notifications issued by the Manipur government and the Centre, the CBI had registered the case on June 9 last year by taking over investigation of an FIR (first information report) filed on May 4 at Heingang police station in Imphal West district.

“As alleged in the FIR, a mob stormed into MPTC Pangei complex on May 4 and looted away a huge number of arms and ammunition from the MPTC armoury during the ethnic conflict which broke out in Manipur,” the CBI release said.

Ethnic clashes between the tribal Kukis and dominant Meiteis first erupted on May 3 during a protest against a court-ordered tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe status to the latter.

The violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders.

More than 200 people have been killed in the violence.

According to government estimates, around 5,600 weapons and 6,50,000 rounds of ammunition were looted in different incidents.

Of that, as many as 1500 arms and 20,000 rounds of ammunition have been recovered to date.