Oinam Ibochouba Singh aka Khoirangba

NEW DELHI: The Special Cell of Delhi Police foiled an assassination bid on the chief minister of Manipur and arrested the alleged terrorist from south Delhi on Tuesday. The suspect has been identified as Oinam Ibochouba Singh aka Khoirangba, who is the acting chairman of the Manipur-based banned outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party , police said.

The operation was conducted by DCP Sanjeev Yadav’s team with extreme precision as Manipur CM N Biren Singh was present in Delhi on Tuesday. Yadav disclosed to TOI that the suspect was in the process of setting up base in Delhi for his mission. Early in August, Khoirangba, 45, had released an audio clip announcing his plans to assassinate the CM and three of his ministers within a month.

The cops had launched a manhunt for him after audio clip began circulating. “We recently received inputs from Manipur Police about the suspect hiding in Delhi,” revealed Yadav. “A special team led by ACP Sanjay Dutt began tracking him, and we also found that he had last set up a base in Sanauli area on the Indo-Nepal border.”

Besides Sanauli, police were stationed in areas like Munirka and Kotla in south Delhi. On August 28, the team received a tip-off that Khoirangba would be in Kotla Mubarakpur to meet an associate. A crack commando team was constituted and traps laid at various points in the locality. The accused was spotted near a temple and overpowered.

There was commotion in the area due to the operation but the accused was quickly whisked away, a source said. Khoirangba disclosed that he was earlier arrested by Assam Police in 2010 under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and had gone to jail.

After his release on bail, the insurgent escaped to Syangja Bazar in Nepal and set up base with the help of foreign-based players, an officer said. “He began to extort money from different government authorities, local businessman, even private schools in Manipur by sending them threat letters through over-ground workers there,” Yadav added.

Last year, the Special Cell had arrested the top leadership of this outfit, identified as Laishram Meetei and Ranjeet Singh Porai, after several terror incidents. In April last year, the group had fired at Indian Oil convoy vehicles twice in a fortnight. It had also hurled a Chinese hand grenade at a school and exploded another at a local market. It had also called for the shutting down of Catholic schools in Manipur.

