Guwahati: Acting against Arambai Tenggol for the first time, Manipur police arrested two members of the Meitei armed group on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the abduction and assault of four police personnel hailing from Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district.
The four police personnel, do not belong to either Meitei or Kuki community.
A statement issued by Manipur police on Monday said two miscreants belonging to Arambai Tenggol—Taibanganba Sanoujam and Moirangthem Bobo—were arrested after it was found that they were involved in the abduction and physical assault of four police personnel on Saturday.
Sources in police said the four police personnel, belonging to Nepali and Muslim community, were sent from Kangpokpi to the state police headquarters in Meitei-dominated Imphal on Saturday to collect some items.
When they were alerted about the possibility of an attack, they tried to return to Kangpokpi without collecting the items.
But they were stopped by some members of Arambai Tenggol at Koreingei area. The four were blindfolded and taken to a different location where they were allegedly assaulted by the miscreants.
They were later released.
Police swung into action after the four abducted persons returned to Kangpokpi and informed about the incident. Sources said they deliberately sent non-Kuki personnel in order to avoid an attack by the Meiteis.
Ever since violence broke out in May last year, Kukis have stopped visiting the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and the Meiteis too don't visit the Kuki hills. The central security forces are manning the 'buffer zone' that divides the Kuki-dominated districts from the Meitei regions.
Arambari Tenggol
Arambai Tenggol, have over 50,000 members belonging to the majority Meitei community. Recently, their activities has become a cause of worry for the central security forces deployed in Manipur.
The forces faced tough times while acting against Arambai Tenggol given their clout and support allegedly provided by the Meitei society including the women vigilante group, Meira Paibis.
According to Kuki groups and central security forces, members of Arambai Tenggol and some other Valley-based insurgent groups snatched over 6,000 weapons from Manipur police and Indian Reserve Battalions amid the riot.
However, these weapons haven't been recovered to this day, raising fears among the Kukis of further attacks.
Arambai Tenggol have opened 'control rooms' in the Valley districts and its members are seen moving with weapons despite the presence of police and central security forces.
An additional superintendent of police and another police personnel were allegedly abducted by the Arambai Tenggol personnel in February in Imphal East district after some of the groups' members were detained by police.