Imphal: In an incident unrelated to the current stir in Manipur, the police today (Aug 21, 2004) seized an AK56 rifle, two magazines and 25 live rounds from the Manipur University hostel, after the arrest of a militant, a senior police official said.

Acting on a tip-off, the militant, Heikham Chinglemba, a banned People's Revolutionary Party Of Kangleipak (PREPAK) activist was arrested and a revolver and four rounds were seized from him during a search at Wangkhei Ningthempukhri area in Imphal late last night, Superintendent of Police (Imphal East) Kh Chandramani Singh said in a statement.

Interrogation of the militant led to the recovery of the arms at the Manipur University boy's hostel at Canchipur, 6 km from Imphal. Formal permission was taken by the police from Vice Chancellor N Bijoy Singh for the raid. A booklet entitled 'A brief account for demanding sovereignty of Manipur' written by Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), political wing of separatist People's Liberation Army (PLA), was found from the boys hostel room no 118 occupied by one Chandam Jiten Singh (22), who was not present when the raid was made at 5:00 IST, the police officer said.

The PREPAK member, Chinglemba, was handed over to Porompat police station, he said. This was the first time that a massive search was made on the Manipur university campus. The RPF, PREPAK and United National Liberation Front (UNLF), separately fighting for an 'independent Manipur' for three decades now had some years ago formed a major separatist group, Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF), to step up propaganda.