Civil society urges govt to take steps to recover looted arms in Manipur

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) Members of a civil society groups Tuesday said the government should take urgent action to recover arms looted in Manipur as it may pose a serious threat to national security.  Flagging the issue at a press conference here, former ADG of CRPF HR Singh said the way arms were looted, it appeared the administration colluded with the looters.  Singh, who had served in Manipur, said it is a "unique case" and an incident of this magnitude has never happened before in independent India.  "It seems there was no resistance from the state administration (when the arms were looted). No bullets were fired, there was no confrontation," he alleged.  He blamed the state government of being unable to control the situation.  "It seems the entire state machinery in Manipur has no responsibility. If they can't control the situation, the chief minister, DG police, and others should resign," Singh demanded.  Agnostoc Theos, chairperson of The Sikh Chamber of Commerce and one of those who have filed application in the Supreme Court on the looting of arms in the state, expressed concern that the arms may reach other parts of India or fall in the hands of terrorists.   "The scale at which the loot of arms has happened is unprecedented. Close to 6000 arms, which includes AK47, carbines, machine guns, INSAS rifles, mortars and grenades and about six lakh rounds of ammunition along with police uniform have been taken," he said.  "This is what an army would use in a war... the looting went on for four months," he alleged.  On September 6, the Supreme Court asked the Manipur government and the law enforcement agencies to file a status report on the recovery of arms from "all sources" in the ethnic violence-hit state. PTI AO ZMN