17 militants killed, 107 arrested in Manipur

IMPHAL, Dec 2 ? Seventeen militants were killed, 107 others arrested and several arms and underground materials recovered by BSF in the past one year in Manipur, BSF DIG (Manipur and Nagaland) PK Misra said on Sunday, reports PTI. Misra said in a statement 10 militants belonging to different outfits had also surrendered to the para-military forces, which had been deployed to assist the counter-insurgency operations in the sensitive state. The militants killed or nabbed belonged to different underground groups, he said adding 58 arms including AK 47 rifles, light machine guns, pistols and 2693 rounds of ammunition, 72 magazines, 23 IEDs, 10 grenades and 16 wireless sets had been recovered during the period. The BSF was deployed mainly in Churachandpur and Thoubal districts, he said and claimed that a semblance of order and been restored in the two places. Before the deployment of BSF, the militants operated freely in Henglep, Thanlon, Parbung and Singhat sub-divisions of Churachandpur and forced the civil and government offices to be closed on many occasions. Heavily-armed militants used to patrol the interior and isolated hilly areas of the district, hijack vehicles, kidnap people, forcibly collect ?taxes? and organise killings, he claimed. Misra said initially six battalions of BSF were deployed for duty in January 2000 and subsequently two more battalions were added in phases to help the existing forces contain the underground activities. BSF was also able to establish good rapport with the residents of interior places through social services, he added.