IMPHAL, Mar 22: Troops of 5 Assam Rifles of the 57 Mountain Division have gunned down four cadres of a relatively unknown armed group called United Tribal Liberation Army in an en-counter near Longpi village of Nungba sub-division in Tamenglong district.
A PIB (DW) release said a fierce gun-battle ensued from around 2.30 am today during the course an operation conducted by the 5 AR troops. after cessation of the gun-fight the para-military troops recovered four bodies, one AK-47 rifle and two SLRs, the release detailed adding that UTLA leader James Singson is among the four killed.
Recounting that the UTLA cadres were invol-ved in the raid and looting of huge cache of arms and ammunition from the Chekar- cham police outpost in Ca- char district of Assam on November 13 last, it asserted that troops of the red Shield division had been relentlessly pursuing the outfit.
A number of UTLA cadres were arrested and large number of arms and ammunition recovered from them in previous operations, the PIB (DW) release added.
Meanwhile, our Tamen-glong correspondent infor- med that further search operations are being conduc- ted by the AR troops in and around the encounter site. Three of the victims are yet to be identified.

AS GIVEN BY MORUNG EXPRESS
Dead bodies found in Tamenglong dist

Imphal, March 22 (NNN): At least four dead bodies were reportedly found near Nongkaiphul village, interior of Tamenglong district. The police suspected that they might have been killed in an encounter between the two different underground outfits. One underground outfit is suspected to be United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA) while the other is yet to be identified. The four slain are suspected to be the cadres of UTLA, according to police source.
The four bodies reportedly bore bullet injuries. The four suspected underground cadres were apparently killed in encounters between two different underground outfits. The villagers clearly heard the gun shots, said police source. According to police, the troops of 6th Assam Rifles heard gun shots in the village on Sunday night and rushed to the spot where they discovered the four dead bodies lying. The corpses have been deposited at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) mortuary by the Nungba police station, Tamenglong district.
Meanwhile, decrying the physical assault of one government official by miscreants, the employees of the DC, office Ukhrul staged sit-in-protest Monday in front of the office gate. It is worth mentioning that the government official who is working as an assistant researcher officer in planning department was beaten up by some miscreants on Sunday.
They condemned the act of beating up the government official without any reason and also stated that if there was any reason the matter should have been brought at the negotiating table.