Two persons were detained in Manipur on Saturday in connection with the ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy, which killed two soldiers and left five others injured. A van, suspected to have been used in the attack, was also recovered.
The attack took place in Nambol Sabal Leikai area on Friday evening when a group of armed men ambushed a vehicle of the paramilitary force.
The silver-blue coloured van was found at Mutum Yangbi in Imphal West district, around 10 km from the ambush site, police told news agency PTI.
“During the last 24 hours, the overall law-and-order situation in the state was tense but under control. In the follow-up to the incident at Nambol Sabal Leikai in which two personnel of the Assam Rifles were martyred, security forces carried out a massive operation in Shantipur and Ishok areas… Two persons were detained for further verification,” the Manipur Police said in a statement late on Saturday.
“As per preliminary investigation, multiple owners of the said vehicle have been identified, and efforts are still on to uncover more details,” the statement added.
The two soldiers killed in the ambush have been identified as Naib Subedar Shyam Gurung and Rifleman Ranjit Singh Kashyap of the Assam Rifles.
The forces were travelling in their 407 Tata vehicle from its Patsoi company operating base to Nambol base at 5.50 pm, when ambushed by a group of terrorists on the outskirts of Manipur’s Imphal.
The injured soldiers were rushed to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal for treatment.
“In the general area, Nambol Sabal Leikai, the column was ambushed by unidentified terrorists on the Highway in the denotified area of Manipur. In the ensuing action, two personnel of the Assam Rifles were martyred and five were injured,” an official statement read.
A high-level meeting, chaired by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, was also held a day after the incident to discuss boosting security arrangements in sensitive areas of Manipur.
