Mizoram’s Saiha district police and Assam Rifles jointly raided a militant hideout in southern Mizoram near the Myanmar border and caught eight militants with sophisticated weapons and ammunition on 8th December 2016.
Police said the eight militants, suspected to belong to the Myanmar-based outfit Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) were brought to Saiha on Friday and have been booked under the Indian Passport Act and Arms Act.
“Language is a problem and as such, we couldn’t find out the reason of their infiltration. But what we understood was that they are all members of the ALA,” the sources said.
The 8 suspected militants are Khai Min Zaw Thun, Khai Moe Naing, Khai Moe Thu, Khai Min, Khai Moe Lwin and Khai Ti Ha Zaw.
The seized weapons included one Lathode grenade launcher, one 7.62mm assault rifle, one 5.56mm M-16 rifle, one M-11 assault rifle, one G-3 rifle, ten Lathode grenades, two Chinese-made hand grenades, 237 rounds of 5.56mm M-16 ammunition, 176 rounds of AK-56 ammunition, 92 rounds of G-3 ammunition, five M-16 magazines, two AK-56 magazines, two M-11 magazines, a binocular and two hand-held radio sets.
Police said the militants’ hideout is located at five km from Saiha town, near the Kolodyne river along the Indo-Myanmar border.
Myanmar has 21 insurgent groups. Over a dozen of them are in peace mode following their signing of ceasefire agreements.