delhi

Updated: Mar 03, 2020 10:59 IST

The Delhi Police on Monday said they had arrested the ‘self-styled chairman’ of a suspected Manipur-based banned militant outfit and his associate for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities and running an extortion network.

The members of the outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party-People’s War Group (KCP-PWG), had allegedly threatened the chief minister of Manipur after which the state police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh on the chairman’s arrest.

The arrested men were trying to set up their organisation’s base in Delhi to carry out anti-national activities, deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said.

DCP Yadav said Delhi Police had received a request from their counterparts in Manipur to arrest Laishram Mangoljao Singh, the self-styled chairman of KCP (PWG), and his associate, Hijbur Rahman, who were in Delhi to allegedly tie up with another terrorist organisation and raise funds.

On March 1, Yadav said, the two were caught from north Delhi’s Burari following information about their presence in the area. Two cellphones with SIM cards of Nepal and a rail ticket were seized from them. Letterheads of the outfit and incriminating audio, video and chats were found in the cellphones, police said.

Singh told the police that prior to coming to Delhi, Singh was operating from his base at Kankarbitta, near the Indo-Nepal Border. He was living clandestinely in Nepal for the past five years to avoid arrest, Yadav said.

“The duo admitted to their involvement in several terrorist activities in Manipur. They extorted money from government authorities, local businessmen, owner of private schools by sending them threat letters through the outfit’s overground workers in Manipur,” added the DCP.

According to Yadav, the KCP (People’s War Group) is very old terrorist group and changed with time again and again. It was formed by a combined extremist group of KCP-Poirei faction, KCP-Tamnganba faction and KCP-Paikhomba faction under the chairman of Laishram Ranjit Meetei. The KCP- Lamyenmbathuman faction is working under the chairmanship of Mangoljao Singh.

In August 2018, the police said, members of KCP (PWG) learnt about the agitation by the Manipur University students and teachers unions to remove the vice-chancellor, about the conflicting border pillar issue of Indo-Myanmar and the Naga framework agreement.

“The outfit’s top commander, Oinam Ibochouba Singh, held the Manipur’s CM responsible for that and circulated an audio threat message in social media groups. Oinam was arrested by the special cell on August 28 the same year from Delhi,” Yadav said. On February 12 this year, a Manipur-based businessman had received a threat message on WhatsApp along with an extortion demand of Rs 10 lakh from the outfit. Local police suspected the role of the arrested men and began looking for them, police said.