Ukhrul, November 4: The New Chayang village authority has sought a clarification over an alleged recovery of arms and ammunition from the village by a joint team of Assam Rifles and Kakching Police Commandos.
In a statement issued by the village authority, it stated that the villagers and the village authority were shocked to learn about the alleged recovery of arms and ammunition from the village through the media.
Per media reports published on October 31, a joint team of Assam Rifles and Kakching Police Commandos recovered arms and ammunition including one INSAS Light Machine Gun, one 12-bore rifle, one single-barrel bolt-action rifle, 20 rounds of 5.56mm live ammunition, three hand grenades, arming of 36 grenades, one 51mm illumination para bomb, thirteen empty cases, and other tactical stores from the village area.
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However, the village authority refuted the claims stating that they were not aware of any such incident or operation taking place in the village area while claiming that they do not possess such sophisticated weapons in the village area.
“We are shocked and confused by this news, as we were not aware of any such incident or operation taking place in our village area. As per our knowledge and past experiences, we do not possess such sophisticated weapons in our village area,” it stated.
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Lamenting that neither the Assam Rifles nor the police informed them about the search operation or the recovery of arms and ammunition, the village authority appealed to the concerned authorities to clarify the matter and provide them with more information about the incident.
“As per the law and established protocols, the Army or police are supposed to inform the village chief or local authorities before conducting any search operation. However, in this case, we came to know about the incident only through the newspaper report,” it added.