Assam Man Allegedly Sourced Drone Parts For Manipur Terror Group, Arrested

A man in Assam has been arrested for allegedly sourcing drone parts to supply to a terror group in Manipur's valley areas, sources in the state police's special task force (STF) said today.

The accused has been identified as Sanjib Kumar Mishra, a resident of Noonmati neighbourhood in Guwahati.

The STF operatives recovered a huge stock of drone parts from him, sources said. A police case has been filed against the accused under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA.

The operation to arrest him had been going on for some time and he had been under surveillance, as the STF operative waited for him to prepare to send the drone parts to the terror group in Manipur, sources said.

Police sources said the arrest is another big win in the operation to stop terror logistics from reaching Manipur, where the valley-dominant Meitei community and the hill-dominant Kuki tribes have been fighting since May 2023.

Armed groups in both the communities have been using drones to monitor each other's activity.

The STF on Friday had also arrested another man for allegedly trying to sneak into Manipur carrying 10 high-end drone batteries for a terror group. STF operatives intercepted Khaigoulen Kipgen, 27, at a toll gate in Sonapur on National Highway 27, some 20 km from Guwahati. Mr Kipgen is a resident of Gamngai village in Manipur's Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district.

A filmmakers' association of the Kuki tribes in Manipur, however, refuted the allegations against what it called a renowned member of the association, who simply bought the drone batteries for work.

The police called the arrest a "major breakthrough", pointing at the use of beyond line-of-sight, military-grade drones by armed groups in Manipur amid the Meitei-Kuki ethnic conflict.