More than 8600 arms of various natures were deposited in Manipur ahead of the assembly elections in the Northeast state which is due in February-March next year.
An official said on December 17 that 8,648 arms were handed over to the government after instructions were passed by the authorities. The Manipur home department official said that there are around 25,300 licensed arms in Manipur and the government is expecting all of them to be deposited at the earliest to prevent any poll-related violence.
The owners need to deposit their licensed arms to their nearby police stations as mandated by the orders issued by the district magistrates of all the districts.
The home department official added that all the district magistrates issued separate notifications in their respective districts, asking the owner of these licenses arms to hand them over immediately to their nearest police stations.
“Those who do not deposit their arms and ammunition, the licensee is liable to be punished for violation of state government instructions under the relevant provisions of the Arms Act, 1959, read with Arms Rules 2016,” the official said, quoting the notification.
Elections to the 60-seat Manipur assembly are likely to be held in February-March next year along with polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.
