Two women cadres of the banned People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) have been arrested from Thoubal district of strife-hit Manipur on charges of abducting three minors to "serve" the militant outfit.
Manipur police said in an X post that security forces on Tuesday (December 5) arrested two active women cadres of the PREPAK from Khangabok under Meitei-majority Thoubal district bordering Kakching district, from where the minors were abducted on January 4.
The cadres of the valley-based insurgent group have been identified as Khundrakpam alias Ningthoujam Roshidiya, 24, of Khangabok Khulakpam Leikai, and Lisham alias Bidya, 30, of Thoubal Haokha Maning Leikai. Both hail from the Thoubal district itself.
“The arrest of the duo follows an investigation into the abduction of three minors the previous day from Kakching Khunou Ngaikhong Leikai under Waikhong police station, Kakching district. The children who were abducted to serve as recruits for PREPAK have since been rescued from Uchiwa Awang Leikai, Imphal West district and handed over to their respective parents,” the police said.
A white Maruti 800 that was used in the kidnapping has been recovered. Efforts are on to arrest the accomplices of the arrested PREPAK cadres, the police said.
This is not the first abduction case involving women militants, who have also been held in anti-extortion operations.
In October last year, a 60-year-old woman cadre, Wahida, 60, belonging to another proscribed group, the Kangleipak Communist Party (Apunba), was arrested along with a male colleague from their respective residences in Thoubal district.
In December, security forces and police had arrested two 19-year-old women cadres of the banned United National Liberation Front (UNLF) from Imphal East district for their alleged involvement in an extortion activities.