In a significant operation, two drivers from Cachar who abducted on January 6, in Manipur were rescued after 13 days. The rescue mission, conducted jointly by Assam’s Cachar Police, Manipur Police and Assam Rifles, took place late Saturday night in the dense forests near the Assam-Manipur border.
According to reports, on January 6, a militant group in Manipur abducted Riazul Haque Laskar from Dholai and Nasir Uddin from Jirighat, both from Cachar. Both drivers, employed by Jandu Construction, a company based in Dholai’s Katakhal. They went to Manipur for transporting construction materials to Manipur’s Tamenglong district. But, they were abducted during their return journey to Assam. After abduction the militants demanded ransom from their families.
Upon learning of the abduction, Cachar Police swiftly coordinated with their counterparts in Manipur and the Assam Rifles to initiate a joint search operation. After an extensive 13-day effort, the drivers were rescued unharmed in the dense forest near the border.
Following their rescue, the two drivers brought to the Jirighat outpost in Cachar, where they reunited with their families.
SP Numal Mahatta stated the drivers kidnapped while returning from Manipur
On the Rescue operation Cachar SP Mumal Mahatta stated, “On January 6, two men from Cachar district traveled to Manipur in two trucks carrying construction materials. While in the Tamenglong district of Manipur, they were abducted by some miscreants from Kaiphundai named village. Upon receiving this information, we immediately coordinated with Manipur Police, Tamenglong district police, Jiribam Police, and Assam Rifles. Together with our Assam Police team, we launched a joint operation. As a result, we successfully rescued the two kidnapped drivers, Riazul Haque Laskar from Kachudaram, Cachar, and Nasir Uddin from Namdailong, Ramgaijang in Jirighat. Following a health examination, the rescued drivers will be reunited with their families.”
The drivers has found in the dense unharmed during the late night operation on Saturday. SP Numal Mahatta further stated, “Our operation was focused on the dense forests along the Assam-Manipur border. The joint team actively cordoned off the area, and when the kidnappers learned of the operation, they were forced to release the two hostages.”
One of the rescuers stated that they have been abducted by five armed miscreants whose face was covered. They have demanded ransom from their family. They did not see their face.
However, the militants abandoned them due to the intense police search.
Jiribam Additional SP stated, “It was a very well coordinated joint effort between Assam police, Manipur Police and 38th Assam Rifle. I will specially like to Thanks Numal Sir, SP of Cachar and 38th Battalion Assam Rifles that they have been able to revive the victims and then they will be properly handed over to Tamenglong district police.”
Cachar SP Numal Mahatta praised the efforts of the joint operation and confirmed that no ransom was paid. While the SP did not name the militant group involved, a faction of the NSCN had previously been mentioned by the victims’ families.
After the operation, the drivers reunited with their families at the Jirighat outpost in Cachar.
The victims’ families revealed that when they sought help from the construction company employing the drivers, their pleas ignored and they even turned away from the office gate.
The incident came in between ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, where several people kidnapped and report missing. Among them is Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a resident of Udharbond-Gossaipur village in Cachar. Singh, who lived in Khukrul, Imphal West, worked as a supervisor for a contractor with the Military Engineering Services (MES) at the Leimakhong Military Station of the 57th Mountain Division. He went missing from the Army camp on November 25.
