Imphal, July 24: Red Shield division of the Indian Army has claimed to have rescue three civilian who were held as captive by cadres of the NSCN-IM.
A PIB Defence statement said that On the night of 21-22 July,a joint team of Maram Battalion and Senapati police, raided the Shepaumaramth Office of NSCN(IM) and successfully rescued three civilians, who were identified as Mr S Lao, Mr A Adhani and Mr C Kholi. These individuals were illegally detained by NSCN(IM) in their regional office for last two months for non-payment of taxes. Through the documents recovered in the office, it has come to light that the outfit is involved in rampant illegal taxation from the locals and anyone who refused to contribute has been beaten, tortured and illegally detained.
During the raid SF arrested two cadres of NSCN(IM), namely Self styled Lance Corporal Alen resident of Wokha and self styled Private John, resident of Senapati. War like stores including three pistols, two radio sets and a large quantity of incriminating documents were also recovered from the premises. Evidence was unearthed which clearly indicated that the group is indulging in activities like carrying out extortion, detention of innocent civilians, threatening Village Chairmen & Secretaries, passing diktats of collection of money from each household in the villages and harassment of Nepali Community. The hostages held by the group were handed over to their relatives in presence of police and representatives from socio-political organizations and their families were extremely grateful for the same. The security forces, along with the State police, has been working towards the common goal of peace and tranquility in the region. Such activities by any group do not bode well with the bright future of Manipur that the people and security forces aspire for.The SF renews its commitment to ensure that the state returns to normalcy at the earliest and it will continue in its relentless operations to curb illegal activities of any group which harasses the general public of Manipur.
