Overview
- Security forces from Manipur Police, Assam Rifles and the CRPF launched an intelligence-led operation on May 20–21 that led to the arrest of four alleged UNLF (Pambei) cadres and the recovery of 67 weapons and heavy war‑like stores from an unauthorised camp in Lamshang/Lamdeng.
- Officers posed as decoy buyers to disrupt an attempted sale; the initial arrests of two cadres triggered a brief exchange of fire when associates opened fire and two more suspects were then detained.
- The seized inventory included assault rifles, an INSAS light machine gun, a sniper rifle, mortars, an RPG-7 launcher, explosives and an anti-drone jammer, which police say may include weapons looted during the May 2023 armoury raids.
- Preliminary interrogations reportedly linked the arrests to instructions from a self‑styled UNLF(P) operative named Naorem Bijoy and included admissions of earlier sales of looted arms, while formal forensic checks and wider trafficking probes are under way.
- Authorities have appealed for public tips and warned the recovery raises public‑safety and compliance questions about the 2023 peace pact with UNLF(P), with officials likely to carry out follow-up searches and investigations into cross‑border sourcing and local gun markets.