The Mizoram Police said on Thursday that they had recovered arms and ammunition from the Zawngling area of the state’s Saiha district in a joint operation with the Assam Rifles. In an official statement from the Headquarters Inspector General of Assam Rifles (East) [HQ IGAR], the police said that the Lunglei Battalion of the 23 Sector Assam Rifles recovered war-like stores and country-made weapons in the general area of Zawngling, Saiha district, on Tuesday (February 14). “In yet another success in its crusade against smuggling activities, the Lunglei Battalion of the 23 Sector Assam Rifles, under the aegis of Inspector General Assam Rifles (East), recovered warlike stores of country-made weapons in Gen Area Zawngling, Saiha district, on February 14, 2023,” the statement said, mentioning that the recovery was made after the forces acted on a specific input about the presence of a cache of warlike stores. The forces recovered two bore guns, one Chinese pistol, and one.22 rifle from an uninhabited small temporary hut in Zawngling, according to officials. These weapons were later handed over to the Tuipang Police Station on Wednesday for legal proceedings. “Ongoing smuggling of warlike goods is a major cause of concern for the state of Mizoram, especially along the Indo-Myanmar border.” “The Assam Rifles, rightly christened the “Sentinels of the Northeast,” have continued their efforts against the smuggling activities in Mizoram,” it added. The Assam Rifles troops recovered 65 cases of foreign-origin cigarettes worth Rs 97.5 lakhs at Zokhawthar in Mizoram’s Champhai district on Wednesday, while the Serchhip Battalion of the Assam Rifles recovered the foreign-origin cigarettes the day before in a joint operation with the Customs Department. “The Sergeant Battalion of the Assam Rifles on Feb. 14, in a joint operation with the Customs Department, recovered 65 cases of cigarettes of foreign origin worth Rs 97.5 lakhs at Zokhawthar, Champhai Dist., Mizoram,” the Assam Rifles said on Twitter.
Notably, on February 13, the troops of the Assam Rifles recovered 780 bags of illegal areca nuts worth Rs 3.51 crore in the general area of Melbuk crossing in Mizoram’s Champhai district.
