NIA charge sheets five in arms & ammunition seizure case in Mizoram

New Delhi/Aizawl, July 11 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Friday, charge sheeted five accused persons in Mizoram in connection with a case related to the seizure of a huge cache of prohibited arms and ammunition, meant for supply to a Bangladesh-based militant group, agency sources said.

An NIA statement said that the accused, identified as Lalbiakchunga alias Divid alias David, Lalthawmcheuva alias Thawma, Malsawma alias Malsawma Loncheu, Rualliansanga alias Sanga and Alok Bikash Chakma, have been charged under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Arms Act, 1959, and the Foreigners Act, 1946.

The case was originally registered on January 15 by the Mizoram Police.

The central probe agency, which took over and re-registered the case two months later, unravelled a criminal conspiracy by the accused to supply the prohibited weapons and ammunition to armed cadres of the UPDF (United People's Democratic Front), a militant outfit based in Chittagong in southeast Bangladesh.

The weapons seized from Saithah village in western Mizoram's Mamit district, included six AK 47 rifles, 13 magazines and 10,050 rounds of ammunition.

Investigations in the case are underway.

A Mizoram police official had earlier said that arms and ammunition were intended for trade between the Chin National Front (CNF), a Myanmar-based rebel organisation and the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), another insurgent group active in the mountainous Chittagong Hill Tracts, which also shares a border with Myanmar.

"This operation highlights the transnational character of illegal arms supplies and emphasises the ongoing threats to regional stability. With the seizure of the arms and ammunition, a serious threat to regional peace and stability has been neutralised," the official had said.

Mizoram Police had earlier registered a case at the West Phaileng police station in Mamit district.

Mizoram shares unfenced borders of 318 km and 510 km with Bangladesh and Myanmar respectively.

--IANS

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