Teen rebel' return to parents

IMPHAL: A 16-year-old tribal boy, who was recently recruited in the underground United Naga People's Council (UNPC), was handed over to his parents "as a goodwill gesture". The personnel 29 Assam Rifles launched an operation along NH-39 and apprehended the boy from a van on Thursday morning at Sita track junction in Chandel district bordering Myanmar, said a statement of the force.

After interrogation, it was found that he was newly recruited in the UNPC and being taken away for training, the statement said, adding that he was handed over to his parents through Tegnoupal police station as a goodwill and humane gesture.

In the meantime, a joint team of 28 and 5 Assam Rifles also detained two cadres belonging to a different outfit during a counter-insurgency operation in Imphal East on Tuesday. Lt-Gen S Ravi Shankar, the director general of Border Roads, inspected NH-53 connecting Imphal and Silchar, which is also known as the alternative lifeline of strife-torn Manipur after NH-39 (Imphal-Dimapur).

He was accompanied by Project Puspak chief engineer and 765 BRTF commander during the visit that began from Silchar early in the morning. The director general took stock of ground reality, an official statement said, adding that on Wednesday he had a meeting with Governor Gurbachan and chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh before he left for New Delhi in the afternoon.