A joint team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Assam Rifles personnel seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Lamlai in Imphal East district of Manipur on Thursday.

The arms and ammunition were suspected to be of the Kangleipak Communist Party (People’s War Group).

“The recovery was made during a search conducted in connection with NIA case number RC-15/2017/NIA/DLI registered in the agency’s Delhi headquarters,” an official source said.

The seized arms and ammunition include one AK-56 rifle, along with three magazines and 180 live rounds of ammunition, a Russian-made Makarov 0.38 pistol along with four live rounds of ammunition, one 0.32 pistol of foreign make, two live hand grenades, 10 rounds of 9mm pistol besides five pairs of camouflage uniforms.

“It is believed that the recovered arms and ammunition belong to the associates of self-styled chairman of KCP (PWG) Moirangthem Rana Meitei alias Paikhomba alias Suchikar,” the source said.

The NIA had registered this case in 2017 under Sections 17, 18, 20 and 21 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and it relates to the criminal conspiracy hatched by cadres of the proscribed organisation to extort money from local people, government departments, schools and institutions, in Manipur in order to further their terror activities in the state.

The NIA has re-arrested and chargesheeted four accused persons in this case, Laishram Ranjit Meitei alias Tamnganba, Khumanthem Naobicha Singh alias Jack, Thoudam Chaothoi Singh and Moirangthem Rana Meitei.

The above accused persons were initially arrested by Delhi police in a case registered with its special cell and later the Union home ministry transferred the investigation of the case to the NIA.

“The members of the outfit were carrying out unlawful activities from a house on NH-24 near Mayur Vihar, Phase-I, in New Delhi and the hideout was busted by Delhi police in 2017,” the source said.

“Scrutiny and analysis of the documents and digital devices seized from the accused had established that they were members of the proscribed organisation, conspired to raise funds for carrying out subversive activities through mobile phones and emails,” he added.