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Arms racket busted
July 6, 2008: Silchar: Mizoram police have busted an international arms racket that used the state’s border areas as transit points.
Sources: The Telegraph, India
The 40-year-old Myanmarese kingpin of one of the rackets, Lal Liana, was arrested along with arms last Sunday, the superintendent of police, L.T. Hrangchal, said today over phone from Aizawl.
The police intercepted Liana’s arms-laden truck at Champai on the Indo- Myanmar border following a tip-off.
Liana, who was trailing the truck in a car, was apprehended near Aizawl.
The arms, according to Aizawl police, were meant for the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) in North Cachar Hills district.
The news of Liana’s arrest had been kept under wraps to facilitate investigation, which the police hoped would lead to several more arrests.
Liana, a member of the Kuki-Chin tribe, kinsfolk of the Mizos, is likely to be produced before a judicial authority in Aizawl tomorrow.
Yesterday, the police seized another cache of arms, which included seven AK-47 rifles, a rocket launcher and assorted ammunition from a Bolero near Vairengte on the Mizoram-Assam border. The Bolero was later traced to a Khasi woman in Shillong.
Mizoram’s 404-km porous border with Myanmar makes it the perfect choice for smugglers to move in arms from China and Thailand, a source said.
Though the Assam Rifles guards the international border, Kolosib district superintendent of police Lalbiakthanga said the Mizoram government was worried about the unchecked movement of arms.