Mizoram police seize arms cache, arrest Myanmarese man

Sources: IANS

"Acting on a tip-off, we have seized seven AK-47 rifles, a rocket launcher and a large cache of ammunition from a Silchar (in southern Assam) -bound vehicle at Vairangte on the Mizoram-Assam border on Saturday," said L T Hrangchal, Aizawl district superintendent of police.

The vehicle, which was also detained along with the arms and ammunition, was owned by a Khasi woman of Meghalaya capital Shillong. The driver of the vehicle managed to escape during the search.

In another incident, police arrested Lal Liana, 40, a Myanmarese citizen, along with some arms and ammunition at Champai in eastern Mizoram on Sunday.

Hrangchal said: "Following intelligence information, the police intercepted Liana's arms-laden vehicle at Champai on the India-Myanmar border."

The weapons, according to the police official, were meant for the Dima Halam Daogah(Jewel group) separatist outfit in North Cachar Hills district of southern Assam.

"We do not want to disclose all the information about the Myanmarese national and arms haul as we expect more such arms to be captured by the police soon," Hrangchal added.

Liana, a member of the Kuki-Chin tribe - kinsfolk of the Mizos, was produced in a lower court here Monday and sent to jail for 14 days.

Meanwhile, on June 28, Mizoram police seized a huge quantity of weapons and ammunition including 19 AK-47 rifles, a Chinese pistol, explosive materials and 8,000 rounds of ammunition from two people, including a Myanmarese national. Cash amounting to Rs.350,000 was also recovered from them.

Following a raid by the police, the arms and ammunition were recovered from a house in Aizawl.

"Mizoram's 480 km porous border with Myanmar and 318-km with Bangladesh makes it the perfect choice for smugglers and arms dealers to move in arms from China, Bangladesh and Thailand," a security official said.

"Though the Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF) guard the mountainous international border, the Mizoram government is worried about the unchecked smuggling of arms from across the border," he added.