Security forces recovered explosives and destroyed a poppy plantation during an anti-insurgency operation in Churachandpur district, Manipur, officials said on Saturday.
Acting on intelligence inputs, personnel from Assam Rifles and the Manipur police conducted a counter-insurgency operation over the past 36 hours. They seized a locally made rocket loaded with explosives, five improvised explosive devices (weighing a total of around four kilograms), three pompi shells (each weighing three kilograms), 23 single-barrel rounds, and two empty firearm cases. The items were recovered from a hideout at the Thangjing foothills under the Churachandpur Police Station area. No arrests were made during the operation.
In a related action, the security forces, in coordination with the Forest Department as part of an anti-drug drive, destroyed around 20 acres of poppy cultivation at Thinghangjang Hill under the same police jurisdiction. Two huts found at the plantation site were also set on fire. Separate cases have been registered in connection with the seizures and the destruction of the poppy fields.
