IMPHAL: Massive joint operations by Central and state security forces continued for the second consecutive day on Tuesday to track down the perpetrators behind the killing of two Assam Rifles (AR) personnel -- a Warrant Officer and a Havildar -- in an ambush in Manipur's Ukhrul district.
A senior police official said that intensive operations are "underway to neutralise the militants responsible for the killing of two Assam Rifles personnel" -- Warrant Officer Balwant Singh and Havildar Chandra Mohan Singh.
The two Assam Rifles personnel were killed after a suspected Naga armed group ambushed an Assam Rifles vehicle at Nungshang Kong along the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway (NH-2) in the trouble-torn Ukhrul district on Monday afternoon.
The deadly attack came four days after security forces destroyed two major militant bunkers at Thoyee village (Mahadev Top) and Jalenbung village under the Litan police station limits in the same district as part of sustained counter-insurgency operations.
Meanwhile, the dominant Naga insurgent group, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), denied any involvement in the ambush on the Assam Rifles vehicle in Ukhrul, asserting that it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement signed with the Central government and the ongoing peace process.
In a statement, the NSCN-IM categorically said that it was "neither involved in nor had any knowledge of the said incident".
"The organisation remains firmly committed to the Ceasefire Agreement with the Government of India and continues to uphold its responsibilities under the agreed ground rules. The NSCN reiterates that it shall never resort to any action that could undermine, derail or sabotage the ongoing Indo-Naga political negotiations," the statement said. (IANS)
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