KRA owns up attack, search ops still on

Imphal, May 28: Even as massive search operations are being conducted in Leplian Kuki village area following yesterday's militant attack in which 11 AR jawans were killed, the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) has claimed the responsibility of the attack and denied NSCN (IM)'s involvement in it. 10 Sector Commander Brig Suresh Nayar inspected the site of the attack this morning. The army officer came by helicopter from Somsai. One Maj Gen of the AR also came by copter from Jakhama to oversee the search operations. They departed after they were briefed by high ranking army officers overseeing the operations, said reports. The 25 AR CO Ashok Pathak is currently stationed at the operation site. SP Ukhrul S Manglem is also at the spot. Massive search operations were carried out at the Leplian village jungles, Dolchung village, Molnom, Molen and areas bordering Ukhrul and Senapati district. There is no report of any arrest. Reports today said the site where the ambush took place is under jurisdiction of Litan police station though Leplian villager itself is under Sajkul PS. A spokesman of the KRA who identified himself as Rocky, the information and publicity secretary told over phone from Dimapur that KRA cadres alone carried out the attack. The attack was in retaliation against the actions of the AR against KRA with one David Singson as the army informer. No NSCN (IM) cadres were involved in it, he added. Rocky further said the outfit shares the sorrow of the bereaved family members of the jawans. Meanwhile, post mortem of the bodies of the slain jawans was conducted at the RIMS morgue today. The deceased include one havildar and 10 riflemen. The havildar is identified as Shakti Singh Rana while the riflemen are Santosh, Uttam Bhai, Bijoy Prajabati. MC Joshi, SA Ahmed, Balam Chelia, Indrajit Das, Surendrakumar, Senjoy- kumar and Gopen Minj. The bodies have been collected by AR authorities. They will be flown their respective homes, said sources. In the meantime, the Sanakeithel Village Authority and the Sanao Long Kameinao Long have strongly condemned the incident. The attack was aimed at disturbing the relationship between the villagers and the AR. In separate statements, the organisations have also shared the sorrow of the bereaved families.