Imphal: A team of Manipur Police has arrested an active cadre of the proscribed People’s Liberation Army, who is a prime accused in the 2021 ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy that claimed the lives of five personnel, including a commanding officer and his family.
“The arrested individual was identified as Sagolshem Sanatomba Singh, 27, a resident of Tentha village in Thoubal district. He was apprehended from Wangbal Maning Leikai in the same district during a targeted operation,” officials said.
“Sanatomba is named in a case investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA),” said Manipur Police Control Room on Saturday. A mobile phone and two SIM cards were recovered from his possession during the arrest.
Sanatomba had been on the NIA’s wanted list in connection with the ambush that took place near Sehkan village in Manipur’s Churachandpur district in November 2021. The attack was jointly carried out by cadres of the People’s Liberation Army and the Manipur Naga People’s Front, which targeted the convoy of the commanding officer (CO) of the 46 Assam Rifles. Four personnel and the CO, his wife, and their son died, and six others were injured in the ambush.
On January 6, 2022, the NIA announced a cash reward of Rs 6 lakh for credible information leading to Sanatomba’s arrest. He was among 10 insurgents named in the case. The NIA had registered a case under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code.
