IMPHAL: In the wake of frequent bomb attacks by insurgents on security forces in the restive Imphal valley, Assam Rifles personnel gunned down two militants in an encounter at Kangchup area in Imphal West district in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Soldiers from the Assam Rifles' 10{+t}{+h} battalion, who engaged in the gunfight around 3am, found one AK series rifle, two pistols with bullets, two hand grenades, explosive material and two detonators on the slain militants, whose identities are yet to be ascertained.
Police retrieved the bodies and kept them in the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here for autopsy.
Local sources said they heard gunshot sounds in the area and some fishermen who tried to find out what was happening were blocked by AR personnel.
Following a series of bomb attacks on the security forces, security has been beefed up at strategic locations in the four valley districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur and Thoubal.
In six separate powerful bomb attacks launched by rebels off and on since September 5, at least one Assam Rifles personnel has been killed and 10 security personnel and a civilian have been injured.
Manipur home minister Gaikhangam, who took serious note of the insurgents' subversive actions, has called for a political dialogue with the rebels groups saying that violence can never bring any permanent solution.
Meanwhile, a youth killed by Manipur police commandos in an alleged encounter at Yourbung-Kharasom road in Imphal East on Sunday night turned out to be an underground cadre who surrendered with arms to the Assam Rifles last year.
The bereaved family said T Govind (30) of Takhel Mamang Leikai village in the same district was staying in an Assam Rifles camp before he came home after procuring an 'outpass'.
Incidentally, police claimed that one 9-mm pistol and a hand grenade were recovered from the site where Govind died in the alleged encounter.
Irate locals, who formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) in protest against Govind's killing, are likely to meet chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh on the matter.
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