Twelve cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tribals (LTT), a militant group in Manipur, laid down their weapons before Chief Minister N Biren Singh at Imphal on Wednesday. Among those who surrendered included three of LTT’s leaders, including the chairman, deputy chairman and chief of their armed wing.
The LTT cadres also surrendered their arsenal, which included an M16 rifle, two AK56 rifles, one .22 rifle, one double-barrel gun, one carbine, two 9mm pistols, one lathode gun, along with a Chinese hand grenade and a hand-held set.
Singh, while appreciating the militants’ surrender and accepting them into mainstream society, said the state government—as promised by union home minister Amit Shah—would ensure no FIR was registered against those who surrendered, unless it was related to a heinous crime.
The chief minister also asked paramilitary forces, the army, and the police to keep the union home minister’s commitment to encourage more cadres to give up their militancy.
Asserting that there shouldn’t be any complication in the procedures to be followed for the insurgent groups returning to mainstream society, Singh said the state government opened a single-window system to facilitate the groups who gave up militancy. Singh also expressed hope that Manipur would be able to end militancy in the next three-four years through political dialogues and homecomings.
The chief secretary and Director General of Police were asked to disburse rehabilitation benefits to the surrendered cadres in a time-bound manner. “Such an initiative would send a positive message to other militant groups about the steps taken by the government, especially for surrendered cadres,” Singh said.
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Under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ revised scheme for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of militants in the northeast states, 2018, rehabilitation benefits to be given to the surrendered cadres include a one-time financial grant of Rs 4 lakh to each surrendered cadre, which is to be kept in their respective bank accounts as a fixed deposit for three years, along with a monthly stipend of Rs 6,000 per person and incentives for surrendered weapons.
Surrendered cadres will stay in a rehabilitation camp for three years, where they would be provided various vocational training.
Despite this recent surrender, there still are several militant groups actively carrying out violent activities in Manipur.