A 35-year-old, self-styled Commander-in-Chief of a Manipur terrorist organisation and his two associates, including a woman, were arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday. The accused were identified as Khoirom Ranjit, commander-in-chief of KangleiPak Communist Party (KCP) and his two associates are Pukhrihongbamibomcha and Inugbam Sanatombi Devi.
Special Cell DCP Sanjeev Yadav said they are involved in a large number of cases of terror activities like lobbing of grenades, shoot-outs, killings, planting of bombs, running extortion network by intimidating businessmen and politicians. One 9 mm pistol and two hand grenades have been recovered from their possession.
“Information was received from Manipur Police about the presence in Delhi of Khoirom Ranjit. Sources were deployed and technical surveillance was mounted to apprehend the terrorist. On January 12 the accused and Inugbamsanatombi Devi were nabbed from Mayur Vihar area,” Yadav said.
During the initial interrogation of Khoirom Ranjit the whereabouts of his close aide Pukhrihongbamibomcha who is involved in cases of planting of grenades in hospitals in Imphal was revealed. Accordingly , the joint team of Special Cell, Delhi Police and Manipur Police conducted a raid and arrested him in Manipur.
“A 9 mm pistol and 2 hand grenades were recovered from his possession. Khoirom Ranjit aka Great Macha aka Rocky was subjected to sustained interrogation wherein he disclosed that initially he became an OGW (Over Ground Worker) of Kanglei Yawol Kanna lup (KYKl) outfit and was involved in delivering the extortion letters, ferrying vehicles, accompanying the KYKl cadres for arranging food/lodging, and supplying the information about the deployment of Security Forces in the Manipur State,” police said.
Police said in 2007, he was apprehended by 15 Assam Rifles but was released allegedly due to his political influence without registering any case.
“We have found his close relationship with Shyam Kumar, who is a sitting MlA of Congress from Andro in Manipur State,” police said.
Kumar was in 2006 arrested by the Special Cell when he was the member of Manipuri militant outfit United National liberation Front (UNlF),” said Yadav. In 2008 he was arrested by a combined team of 34-Assam Rifles and Manipur Police commandos from a liquor vend at Yairipok Shanta Bazar, Yairipok. After his release from jail, he migrated to Nepal where he set up his extortion network base under the banner of KCP-KK, Nigamba Group.
The accused carried out several extortion activities in which he was supported by the MlA and some part of the money was sent to the MlA’s close aides.
Police claimed that after his release from jail in 2014, he entered into a dispute with the KCP-Nigamba and hence floated his own cadre under the banner of KCP-Poirei Meitei. He has been involved in various terrorist activities like lobbing and firing of grenades, running extortion network, threatening people, businessmen and politicians and murdering them for refusing to meet his demands.
Meanwhile, Khoirom Ranjit is in seven-day custody of the Delhi Police after it said that his custodial interrogation was required as the group was allegedly planning to carry out terror attack here and also for apprehending his other associates. Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh also sent Inugbam Sanatombi Devi, arrested along with Ranjit, to two-day police custody while allowing the agency’s plea, which claimed that the accused had shifted the terror outfit’s base to Delhi and were planning to carry out terror strike here.