Nine militants arrested in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): Security forces have arrested nine militants belonging to various proscribed outfits in Manipur, police said on Saturday.
Three active cadres of the banned Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) were apprehended from Leimapokpam in Bishnupur district on Thursday for allegedly being involved in extortion activities, a senior officer said.
Two firearms and ammunition were recovered from their possession, he said.
Security forces also arrested three cadres of the banned PLA and two members of the outlawed KCP from Gangpijang village (BP-74) in Tengnoupal district on Friday, the officer said.
One active cadre of the proscribed KCP (PWG) was apprehended from Yumnam Huidrom area in Imphal West district on Thursday.
He was accused of being involved in extortion activities in the valley areas, the police said.
Intelligence-based combing and search operations are being carried out extensively to arrest those involved in extortion activities in the state, the officer said.
During a search operation, three firearms, one mortar, a radio set and two chargers were recovered from the Dampi Hill forest area in Churachandpur district on Friday, he said.
Security forces have been conducting search operations in Manipur since ethnic violence broke out two years ago.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
The Centre had on February 13 imposed the President’s rule in Manipur after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned.
The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
