Imphal:
In a major success to the government’s counter-insurgency activities, one of the senior leaders of the proscribed Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) laid down arms in front of Chief Minister Biren Singh in an event here, on June 13.
Singh, who was accompanied by state chief secretary Rajesh Kumar and Manipur DGP P Doungel, welcomed Irom Ibotombi Meitei to the mainstream and termed it a “homecoming”.
Fifty-six-year-old Ibotombi, who went by the aliases of Ibotomba, Keirungba and Chingkhei, was the RPF’s deputy assistant secretary of health and family welfare and is a resident of Nambol Thangtek in the Bishnupur district. He was associated with the outfit from 1994 to 1995.
Speaking to the press, the chief minister said that Ibotombi came to the mainstream after trusting the changes brought about in the state by the Centre and state governments, and the firm commitment of central leaders towards the development of Manipur and Northeast.
“I would like to appeal to the people of the state, and those who left their homes for a cause, to come back and join the mainstream so that we can live peacefully, and work together for a new Manipur and India,” Singh said.
Notably, the development comes just 12 days after 14 cadres of the United Tribal Liberation Army surrendered before the chief minister at another “homecoming” ceremony in Imphal, on June 1.