Shillong, July 27: Nagaland Police has taken serious action following the interception of a car in the 6th Mile area in Chumoukedima, Dimapur, on July 10.
The car was found to be carrying approximately 2,500 different types of ammunition concealed in rice bags. In connection with the incident, a police officer named Michael Yanthan, who was in charge of the Police central store in Chumoukedima, along with four civilians were arrested.
IANS stated that in response to this alarming situation, the Director General of Police (DGP), Rupin Sharma, has constituted a high-level committee led by an Inspector General of Police to conduct a thorough investigation. According to the DGP, the Inspector acted on his own in stealing the ammunition, and there is no evidence of a conspiracy at this stage.
The main accused, Michael Yanthan, has already confessed to his crime, revealing that he was paid Rs 4.25 lakh to sell around 1,500 rounds of SLR ammunition and 1,000 rounds of 5.56 mm calibre bullets of INSAS rifles. The woman arrested in connection with the case admitted that the consignments were obtained from an NSCN-IM leader, who, in turn, stated that he purchased the ammunition from Yanthan.
Currently, the arrested individuals are in judicial custody, and the police department has proposed the suspension of the inspector involved. In the course of the initial investigation, it was discovered that the stolen ammunition was intended to be smuggled and sold to individuals in neighboring Manipur. Manipur has been facing ethnic violence for the past three months, and there have been reports of illegal arms and ammunition being used by rival groups in the ongoing violence.
Various sources and political parties claimed that during the ethnic riots in Manipur on May 3, mobs, attackers, and militants looted over 4,000 different types of sophisticated arms and a vast quantity of ammunition from police stations and outposts.
