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NEW DELHI: Almost every variant of sophisticated weapons supplied by Indian ordnance factories to the state armed forces was part of the loot now being used to keep Manipur on the boil. The Amogh (meaning unerring) carbine, for instance, is a select-fire personal defence weapon designed and manufactured by the Ordnance Factories Board.
The Excalibur rifle derives its genes from the Insas rifle, also an indigenously developed and manufactured weapon. The Ghaatak assault rifle was designed specifically for counter-insurgency operations.
FIRs registered at different police stations regarding each of the mob raids on armouries mention the same sequence of events – several thousand rioters outnumbering security personnel at each location and walking away with weapons.
Apart from the arms, the mobs also looted daylight telescopes for Insas rifles, passive night-vision binoculars, bayonets, bullet-proof helmets, tear-gas guns and shells, stun grenades and anti-riot guns, among other equipment.
The largest loot took place on May 28 at the headquarters of the 8th India Reserve (Commando) Battalion at Khabeisoi in Imphal East district. Punsiba Kabrambam, the inspector (adjutant) of the battalion, states in his FIR at Heingang police station that a mob of around 10,000 people “armed with weapons, catapults and iron rods” surrounded the battalion headquarters and attacked the personnel. The rioters carried on undaunted.
The weapons they snatched included nine AK rifles with 256 magazines and 6,520 units of ammunition, 165 Insas rifles with 934 magazines and 44,770 units of ammunition, 57 Insas LMGs with 53 magazines, and MP5 and a magazine, eight Excalibur rifles with 50 magazines, 69 pistols (9mm) along with 142 magazines and 1,200 units of live ammunition, and 58 carbines with 234 magazines and 24,570 units of ammunition.
The Excalibur rifle derives its genes from the Insas rifle, also an indigenously developed and manufactured weapon. The Ghaatak assault rifle was designed specifically for counter-insurgency operations.
FIRs registered at different police stations regarding each of the mob raids on armouries mention the same sequence of events – several thousand rioters outnumbering security personnel at each location and walking away with weapons.
Apart from the arms, the mobs also looted daylight telescopes for Insas rifles, passive night-vision binoculars, bayonets, bullet-proof helmets, tear-gas guns and shells, stun grenades and anti-riot guns, among other equipment.
The largest loot took place on May 28 at the headquarters of the 8th India Reserve (Commando) Battalion at Khabeisoi in Imphal East district. Punsiba Kabrambam, the inspector (adjutant) of the battalion, states in his FIR at Heingang police station that a mob of around 10,000 people “armed with weapons, catapults and iron rods” surrounded the battalion headquarters and attacked the personnel. The rioters carried on undaunted.
The weapons they snatched included nine AK rifles with 256 magazines and 6,520 units of ammunition, 165 Insas rifles with 934 magazines and 44,770 units of ammunition, 57 Insas LMGs with 53 magazines, and MP5 and a magazine, eight Excalibur rifles with 50 magazines, 69 pistols (9mm) along with 142 magazines and 1,200 units of live ammunition, and 58 carbines with 234 magazines and 24,570 units of ammunition.
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