Manipur: Man held while smuggling 72,000 peacock feather shafts to Myanmar

The Manipur Police on Saturday arrested a 24-year-old man while smuggling 72,000 peacock feather shafts to Myanmar.

The accused has been identified as Md. Sharifuddin, a resident of Moreh Ward No. 5, Muslim Nagar Laibuk Leikai, in Tengnoupal district, which borders Myanmar.

Acting on intelligence inputs, police intercepted him near the Pallel police station gate in Kakching district. During the search, police recovered four plastic sacks containing 72,000 peacock feather shafts, weighing around 142 kilograms.

“The estimated international market value of the seized feather shafts is around ₹37 lakh,” said a police official.

A four-wheeler vehicle used for transportation was also seized.

In separate counter-insurgency operations on the same day, security forces arrested four active insurgents belonging to proscribed outfits kangleipak Communist Party (People’s War Group) faction KCP (PWG), United National Liberation Front-Pambei faction [UNLF (Pambei)], Revolutionary People’s Front/ People’s Liberation Army (RPF/PLA), and Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) from different districts of Manipur.

The arrests were made during intelligence-based combing and cordon-and-search operations aimed at curbing extortion and recruitment activities by insurgent groups.

The recovered items included a firearm, live ammunition, mobile phones, SIM cards, and extorted cash.

Authorities said such operations will continue to target both cross-border smuggling networks and insurgent activity in the region.