Aizawl/Imphal, Sep 24 Security forces on Thursday arrested the chief of the banned Manipur-based militant outfit, United Kuki National Army (UKNA), in the Mizoram capital, a senior police officer said.
Thangkhomang Haokip, stated to be the commander-in-chief of the UKNA, has been accused of being involved in several crimes in Manipur.
Aizawl Superintendent of Police Zosangliana told PTI that Hoakip was arrested during an operation by a joint team of Assam Rifles and Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB).
An official of a central intelligence agency said that a search is underway for other cadres of the banned militant group, who are reportedly currently hiding in Aizawl.
The UKNA is not a signatory to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact signed among the Centre, Manipur government and several Kuki and Zomi militant groups, officials in Imphal said.
The group is concentrated primarily in the hill district of Churachandpur, especially in its Henglep sub-division, they said.
The NIA had in August arrested S Palal Thadou, the self-styled finance head of the proscribed UKNA, in connection with the April 7 IED blast in Manipur’s Bishnupur district, which killed two children.
The ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023 between the valley-based Meitei and the hill-based Kuki communities has claimed at least 306 lives, with 49 individuals remaining missing and thousands left homeless.
(PTI News)
