In a case involving transnational weapons trafficking connected to insurgent organisations based in Myanmar, the nation’s top anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has filed charges against an arms smuggler in Mizoram. The accused, Lalngaihawma, was taken into custody by the NIA in February of this year following a raid on a well-organised, extensive illegal weapons supply network that was active in several northeastern states.
Based on information that several Mizoram-based gangs have been trafficking firearms and explosives in the northeast region, a complaint against him and others was already filed in December 2023. In a statement released on August 1, the NIA stated that an investigation revealed Lalngaihawma had established “strong linkages with insurgent groups based in Myanmar.”
“They used to assist him in getting weapons, ammo, and explosives to supply criminal and insurgent organisations. Huge sums of money have also been given to Lalngaihawma through a number of people, including his acquaintances in Myanmar, the NIA stated in the statement.
The NIA claimed that Lalngaihawma had established connections with authorised arms merchants in order to steal bore firearms, both legal and illicit. He is accused of violating the severe provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act, and the Explosive Substances Act. There has been intense violence in Myanmar between the ruling junta and ethnic rebels who support democracy. Large swathes of the country have fallen out of the junta’s hands, including most of its international borders, giving rise to armed ethnic groups that are consolidating their hold on territory and expanding their influence.
The ethnic armed groups Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army are part of the Three Brotherhood Coalition. However, they have different goals and spheres of influence, even if they are fighting the same enemy. In Mizoram, almost 40,000 people have sought refuge. Around 6000 people from Myanmar are in neighbouring Manipur, where there has been fighting since May 2023 between the Meitei population, who dominate the valley, and roughly two dozen tribes known as Kukis, a word coined by the British during their colonial era.
The Meitei community organisation has repeatedly claimed that militants from Myanmar, particularly those from Chin State who are related to Kukis ethnically, were involved in the unrest in Manipur.
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