The Manipur Police on Tuesday arrested 80 persons, claiming that they are foreigners from Myanmar and have been staying in the state’s Churachandpur district illegally, The Indian Express reported.

Of the arrested individuals, 25 are men, 35 women and 20 children. Most of them are alleged to have been staying in Manipur for at least two years.

A massive search operation, led by Additional Director General Clay Khongsai, was launched early morning on Tuesday in the Ngathal village, the Manipur Police said.

“Based on reliable information regarding the presence of Myanmar nationals in the Churachandpur district, particularly in the Ngathal village, a huge team of Churachandpur district police conducted a cordon and search operation from 5 am to 8.30 am,” said Th Deshorjit Singh, additional superintendent of police of Churachandpur.

Forty persons were found in two rented accommodations in the Vaal Veng area, the police said, according to The Indian Express. In another raid at a rented home, the police found 37 persons – 13 men, 16 women and eight minors.

Three more were picked up by the police from the New Bazar area of the district headquarters.

The police said that the rented homes belonged to 58-year-old Biakchunga, who is originally from Myanmar. In 1986, Biakchunga moved to Mizoram and later to the Kwanpui area of Churachandpur district.

Initial findings have established that all the arrested persons were brought to Manipur by Biakchunga, Singh said.

“They did not possess any valid documents to prove that they are Indians,” Singh added. “None of them could speak Hindi, English or Manipuri dialect but a few of them understand a common local dialect of the district.”

The adults among the arrested persons have been booked under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act for staying in India beyond the period for which visa was issued to them. A local court remanded 60 adults in police custody for seven days and the minors were sent to a juvenile centre.

The police suspect that the arrested persons were brought to Manipur to carry out weaving activities as most of them were found in rooms stuffed with handlooms and weaving equipment, reported The Indian Express.