A woman vendor was arrested and explosive-making materials and drugs seized from her possession at a market in Senapati, Manipur on Tuesday, police sources said.
The seizure was made by a team of Imphal East district police in continuation of a raid in a drug haul case at Checkon, Imphal East the same day.
Police identified the arrested vendor as one RK Poukhurou, 50, of Karong, Senapati.
The police recovered as many as 30 blasting sticks (about 3.775 gm), two packets of detonators containing 20 and 66 detonators respectively, an 18 ft long cortex wire, 11 paper-wrapped packets containing three detonators and one cut piece of cortex wire.
The police also seized 1.03 kg of opium and heroin powder weighing 13 gm, two mobile phones, an Aadhaar card and Rs 5,050 cash from the possession of the woman vendor.
During the raid at Checkon, police seized a total of 2.07 kg of suspected heroin powder, one mobile phone, an Aadhaar card and Rs 5,000 cash from the possession of one Veineichong Khongsai, 36, of Kangchup Geljang, Senapati. She was arrested on the spot.
Speaking to the media at the office of SP Imphal East in Pormpat, SP M Pradeep informed that during interrogation the accused, Veineicgong, revealed that confiscated drugs were brought from Burma and she came to Imphal for transporting the same drug to a woman in Senapati, who would further transport the same to one non-local.
In the follow-up of the case, the police team arrested the woman vendor and confiscated the explosive-making materials and other drugs, he added.
As per Poukhurou, the seized explosive materials were brought from one unknown official who was working at a road construction agency at Willong, Senapati and they were sold by doubling the price to prospective buyers, suspected to be UGs, said Pradeep.
The explosive items were suspected to be used by the underground outfits in planting of IEDs in various places of Manipur in the recent past, said the SP, adding that it is also highly suspected that the explosives would be used to create disturbances in the upcoming Independence Day Celebration and also in targeting the security forces.
Her narco-terrorism link is also being investigated, he added.
