Manipur: Kuki insurgents using another outfit’s name for extortion arrested

Imphal: In yet another development, two cadres of the banned outfit Kuki National Army-India (KNA-I) involved in extorting money from non-local businessmen were arrested from Churachandpur district on Monday, said an official.

Based on information about some unknown persons claimed to be members of National Revolutionary Front, Manipur (NFRM) outfit demanding money from five non-Manipuri shop owners lin Lailam Veng and Nute Bazar Churachandpur, a suo motto case U/S  506/384/34 IPC and 17/20 UA(P) Act was registered against the unknown persons for further investigation.

An official stated that the unknown persons also threatened the shop owners saying they were sent to collect money from non-local shopkeepers by their NRFM leaders who killed Anand Gupta in the district recently.

The said unknown persons had already collected money from two shops in the previous week, it said.

During the course of the investigation and after a thorough analysis of the CCTV footage collected from the nearby targeted shops as well as surveillance in the suspected areas, the two cadres were arrested from different places.

On preliminary examination, the arrested persons revealed that they were the cadres of KNA(I), a defunct non-SoO group, but they used the name of another outfit NFRM to intimidate the non-local shopkeepers, the official said.

The arrested cadres have been identified as Paolalmon Singson, 24, s/o of late Thangkhilal Singson of Tollen Village and Letthang Haokip, 45, s/o late Thangneh Haokip of Majuron Kuki Village, Leimatak A/P Mongjang village, both from Churachandpur district.

A cash amount of Rs 1,000, one mobile phone along with incriminating materials in the phone were recovered from their possession.

The arrested cadres will be produce to court for further remand and investigation on Tuesday, it said.

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