3 'Arambai Tenggol' Members Arrested For Extortion Bid, Guns Seized: Manipur Police

Three members of the Arambai Tenggol who were on the prowl to extort money from the public and government officials were arrested in Manipur's capital Imphal, the police have said. A Ghatak assault rifle with one magazine and five rounds, a .32 country made pistol with magazine, three mobile phones, a four-wheeler and other incriminating material were seized from them during the operation on Sunday, the police said in a statement.

"Manipur Police arrested three armed miscreants and apprehended one juvenile from... Imphal East district, who were found loitering in the area to commit... extortion of money from general public and government officials... as well as threatening the general public," the police said in a statement. "They were later found to be members of Arambai Tenggol," the police said, referring to the Meitei armed group which calls itself "defence volunteers".

The Arambai Tenggol maintains it started out as a youth group of the valley-dominant Meitei community, but took up arms after ethnic clashes with the Kuki tribes began in May 2023. Locally known as AT, it faces charges of looting weapons from police armouries, acts which it says were necessary to protect the Meitei community from Kuki militants and due to ineffective action by security forces in the early days of the ethnic clashes.

The Kuki tribes also have armed groups equipped with modern assault rifles and other military-grade weapons, who call themselves "village volunteers".

The three AT members have been identified as Ningombam Lemba Singh, 25; Mangshatabam Poireinganba Meitei, 21, and Laishram Bidyas Singh, 21.

The Manipur Police said they recovered a large amount of guns, ammunition and other lethal items during operations in the fringe and vulnerable areas in the hills and valley districts.

Search For Missing Man

The police said joint teams including the Indian Army are searching for a man from the Meitei community who went missing from an army base in Leimakhong.

"Indian Army has extended all support and resources to trace him using over 2,000 troops, helicopters, drones and army tracker dogs. Further investigation using technical intelligence is being undertaken," the police said in the statement.

Rising Extortion Cases

There has been numerous extortion threats by groups of armed people in recent times in Manipur, especially in urban areas such as Imphal city and the district headquarters in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, sources had told NDTV in October, adding these groups are taking advantage of the Manipur crisis that have kept the police and the security forces occupied on maintaining peace.

AT members getting arrested for attempting to extort from the public is not new and not likely to stop, a retired senior police officer who is assisting the current administration told NDTV, requesting anonymity. "All kinds of gangs with five-six members using unheard-of militant group names have been extorting from the people despite such hard times," the retired officer said.

Many shop owners in Imphal have complained of being forced to pay up by armed people, despite failing businesses due to no economic activity for over a year since violence began in May 2023. 'Requests' to pay up by random armed people have only been rising, they alleged.

"If you ask anyone in Imphal, they will say the same thing - extortion and thefts have increased. All businesses are dead. Where will money come from? People are stealing cooking gas cylinders, water pumps, anything they can get. Cooking gas costs over Rs 2,500 in the black market," an Imphal resident had told NDTV in October, requesting anonymity.

Of the 39 terrorist organisations banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), eight are Meitei outfits from Manipur.

The only Meitei group that has agreed for talks is the United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P). This outfit - which is one of the two factions of the oldest Meitei armed group - is overground now after it signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November 2023.

The rise in extortion cases in Manipur comes after nearly a decade of relative peace and calm. Startups and entrepreneurship in Manipur had been growing fast, boosted by central and state assistance policies, until the ethnic violence put brakes on all economic activity.