Manipur Police has said that more than 1,000 weapons were surrendered during the two-week amnesty for returning looted and illegal weapons in the state, PTI reported on Friday.

The deadline to surrender the arms ended on Thursday.

Manipur has been mired in ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities since May 2023. About 6,000 weapons were looted from state armouries after the conflict began, according to The Indian Express.

About 1,200 of these weapons had been recovered in security operations, according to an update provided by Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh in September.

The violence has left at least 258 dead and displaced more than 59,000.

The surrendered weapons include handguns, machine guns, grenades, mortars, Indian Small Arms System rifles and AK-56 rifles.

On February 20, Governor AK Bhalla urged people from all communities to surrender the looted weapons at security establishments within a week, and assured them that no punitive action would be taken. He had warned of strict action for possessing such arms after the deadline.

On February 27, armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol surrendered 246 weapons to security forces in Imphal. This was the largest set of illegally-held weapons surrendered in Manipur since the conflict began.

However, on February 28, the governor extended the deadline till 4 pm on March 6 following demands by groups for more time.

Bhalla had asked all sides in the conflict to surrender the arms after President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13. This was after Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister.

Besides weapons, bulletproof jackets, helmets, radio sets, camouflage uniforms, boots and locally made mortars have also been surrendered in the last two weeks, PTI reported.

Also read: Does Arambai Tenggol’s decision to surrender arms reflect a changed reality in Manipur?