Imphal, Sept. 21: Giving credence to Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga?s statement earlier this month that a few Manipur outfits were eager to hold talks with the Centre, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced that eight armed groups of the state have entered into an understanding with the security forces to cease hostilities. He hoped others would follow suit.

?Eight armed groups have entered into an arrangement with the security forces deployed in the state to suspend operations against each other and also cease hostilities. We are hopeful that more groups will follow suit,? Mukherjee told a news conference at Leimakhong army base near Imphal today.

The minister did not disclose the names of the outfits, but said the government was taken into confidence in this regard. He, however, said no ceasefire pact was signed between the security forces and the groups. Following the arrangements, the southern districts of Manipur were limping back to normality.

Mukherjee, however, flatly rejected the United National Liberation Front (UNLF)?s proposal to hold a plebiscite under the supervision of the United Nations to end the ongoing armed conflict in Manipur. ?That (plebiscite) is not possible.?

He, however, blamed the Manipur government for ?delaying? the army inquiry into the Thangjam Manorama case, whose death in Assam Rifles custody in July last year triggered a violent agitation against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

?The army constituted a court of inquiry to probe the incident. The army court completed its job and even wanted a DNA test of the semen found in Manorama?s undergarments to verify whether she was raped. But when it asked for the piece of garment, the state government failed to hand it over,? Mukherjee said.

Troops of the Assam Rifles picked up the 32-year-old on charges that she was a hardcore member of the banned Peoples Liberation Army, from her Bamon Kampu residence in Imphal East district in the wee hours of July 11 last year. Her bullet-riddled body was recovered 4 km from her house in the morning.

The family and residents of Bamon Kampu locality accused the paramilitary force of killing the woman in custody after she was raped. Forensic examination of the undergarments Manorama was wearing at the time of death detected semen stains, strengthening the belief that she was sexually assaulted before being murdered.

?To prove or disprove of the rape charge the state government should make available the piece of cloth that contained the semen stains to the army authority for DNA testing. The failure to hand over the material has stalled the Manorama probe by the army,? Mukherjee said.