A group of Manipur Police commandos, who were sent as reinforcements to a border town after a senior police officer was shot dead earlier today, were ambushed by suspected insurgents, according to the police. The ambush took place 10 km away from Tengnoupal district and resulted in several commandos getting injured. Government sources reported that the Assam Rifles troops swiftly arrived at the ambush site and rescued the police commandos, some of whom were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The incident occurred in Moreh, a trading town located on the India-Myanmar border in Tengnoupal. Senior police officer Chingtham Anand was shot dead by a suspected insurgent sniper while overseeing the construction of a helipad. The town is approximately 115 km away from the state capital, Imphal. Although the distance seems short on paper, the Imphal-Moreh route is filled with hills, jungles, and hairpin bends, making it vulnerable to ambushes by insurgents, as per sources.
The Manipur Police dispatched the commando reinforcements to Moreh in response to the security forces’ operation to neutralize the suspected insurgent sniper responsible for the police officer’s death. Today’s attack on the helipad project and the subsequent ambush signify an escalation in hostilities between the security forces and insurgents, disrupting the fragile peace in violence-affected Manipur.
The construction of the new helipad in Moreh is a joint effort between the state and the Border Security Force (BSF). Once completed, it will become the third helipad in Moreh, with the other two under the control of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force operating under the army. The state forces and the BSF are constructing this new helipad exclusively for their use in transporting police and paramilitary personnel to Moreh from different parts of Manipur. The road to Moreh is often blocked by miscreants, leading to a high risk of ambushes, similar to the incident today. The insurgents aim to prevent the helipad from becoming operational, sources revealed.
