Imphal, Feb 2 : A team of Assam Rifles and police gunned down two suspected militants of the Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak) inside a tussar farm at Yaral Hill in Imphal East this morning.
The team recovered one AK-56 rifle with 15 live rounds, one M-16 rifle with eight live rounds and one hand grenade from the slain militants.
The police said the team surrounded the farm before sunrise after a tip-off on the presence of some militants in the area.
The militants fired at the team around 10.30am and the forces retaliated, killing them on the spot.
The encounter lasted nearly 20 minutes.
The militants are yet to be identified.
In another incident, two unknown persons set on fire the workers’ room of an eatery, Shanti Fast Food, located at Keishampat in Imphal city this afternoon.
Furniture, clothes and other items were destroyed in the fire.
Three fire tenders doused the fire. The loss is yet to be assessed.
The owner of the hotel, Dasarath Yadav, alleged that two customers, who ate parathas at the eatery, committed the arson.
“They paid the money for tea and paratha. I did not have any argument with them. One of them suddenly went outside and returned carrying a petrol can. Then they set on fire the workers’ sleeping room by dousing petrol,” the proprietor said.
He also said no militant group had served any demand letter to the hotel.
The people who were present at the eatery at the time chased the arsonists.
However, while one of them escaped on his motorcycle, the other ran away.
The police also launched a search but no arrests have been made so far.
