Manipur:Meitei group Arambai Tengol surrenders arms

In Manipur, members of ‘Arambai Tengol’, a radical Meitei group on Thursday surrendered their arms to the state government, a move that comes days after state governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla asked all communities to voluntarily surrender looted and illegally held arms and ammunition within seven days as part of efforts to end the protracted ethnic violence in Manipur. Arambai Tenggol has been accused of killing Kuki tribals and destroying their homes. The Meitei group brought looted arms and ammunitions in a fleet of pickup trucks.

#WATCH | Imphal | The members of 'Arambai Tengol'- a Meitei organisation, today surrendered their arms following their meeting with Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Feb 25 pic.twitter.com/GUboHG3lui

— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2025

Earlier, on Tuesday, a delegation of the radical group had also met Bhalla and submitted a memorandum to the Governor demanding fencing of the border with Myanmar, implementation of the National Register of Citizens with 1951 as the cut-off, deportation of “illegal immigrants” abrogation of the agreement for the suspension of operations against Kuki groups, etc.It sought an assurance that no arrests or legal action would be taken against volunteers or armed civilians including those belonging to Arambai Tenggol, and Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the majority Meitei community.
The violence in Manipur was triggered in May 2023 and has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced around 60,000 people in the state. Mobs also looted weapons from state armouries, police stations, and outposts after the ethnic violence began. Around 2,500 of the 6,000 looted weapons have been recovered. Presently, Manupur is under the President's Rule.