Imphal: The Special Commando team of Manipur police on Sunday arrested three Myanmar nationals from Moreh, a town on the edge of the India-Myanmar border.
A police official said the trio, identified as Khamkhenthang Guite (25), Aung Mae (30), and Aung Aung (25), are suspected of stealing furniture items and electric generators from the houses which were burnt down during the recent clashes in Moreh.
The arrested persons have been handed over to Moreh police station for further investigation, the police official said.
The arrest of the three Myanmar nationals comes at a time when tribal organisations such as the Kuki Inpi and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) are protesting against deployment of “additional” state police and police commandos at Moreh town for the past few days.
“It is apparent that these organizations do not want the presence of state forces in Moreh so that many of these Myanmarese can be brought into the country. The state government cannot keep silent on such an alarming issue of illegal migration,” Chief Minister N. Biren Singh wrote on X.
However, CoTU and Kuki Inpi claimed the deployment of the state commandos might create another wave of bloodshed in Moreh.
“Despite the strong presence of para-military forces and Indian Army manning the buffer zones and securing tranquillity within Moreh, the deployment of additional Meitei police through night choppers is of grave concern,” CoTU said in a statement.
“The security advisor must in good faith withdraw the deployed Meitei police personnel and re-install a Kuki-Zo officer as superintendent of police in Tengnoupal district for the sake of deterring imminent danger,” CoTU further demanded.
Moreover, CoTU claimed that the recent recovery of arms and ammunition between Nungshum village and H Khopibung village in Imphal East district is “stage-managed operation” to malign the community.
The Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal district demanded removal of the checkpoints allegedly set up by Meitei Meira Paibis in Kakching Lamkhai and Wangjing areas along the Imphal-Moreh road, where essential commodities that were transported to Moreh and Tengnoupal sub-division are being “blocked”.
The Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal district also demanded replacement of state forces by the Gorkha Regiment or any other central security forces in the district and posting of Kuki-Zo officers in Tengnoupal and Moreh Sub-Divisions.
