Imphal, Dec 17 (IANS): With one more militant taken into custody, the number of arrests in connection with Saturday's killing of two migrant workers from Bihar has risen to eight, officials said on Tuesday.
A police official said that a hardcore cadre of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (People’s War Group) (KCP-PWG) outfit, identified as Irengbam Rameshwar Singh, 48, was arrested from Kakching Lamkhai area under Kakching district on Monday night.
The official said that a police team, acting on secret information, had earlier on Monday arrested seven militants of the KCP-PWG group from a hideout located at the Kakching Mamang Ching Laipham Loknung area in Kakching.
The arrested extremists were identified as Elangabm Herojit Singh, 40, Heikrujam Prem, 28, Okram Arundatta, 30, Senjam Rebingson, 27, Okram Amarjit, 31, Aribam Ghanendrajit Sharma, 25, and Chongtham Rajkumar, 26.
A cache of arms and ammunition including eight weapons were recovered from the detainees.
Armed militants shot dead the two migrant workers near the panchayat office in Keirak on Kakching-Wabagai Road in Kakching district on Saturday evening when the victims, along with a few others, were going on their bicycles.
The victims were identified as Sunalal Kumar, 18, and Dasharat Kumar, 17.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had strongly condemned the killing of two migrant workers from Bihar and announced Rs 10 lakh as an ex-gratia for the kin of each victim.
He said that if required, the case would be transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to ensure a fair and thorough inquiry.
The deceased are residents of Rajwahi village in Yadavpur police station area under Bihar's Gopalganj district. They were engaged in some construction work and stayed in a rented accommodation in Kakching.
Earlier on many occasions, migrant workers, especially from Bihar, have been attacked in Manipur.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also earlier expressed grief over the killings and announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for family members of the deceased.