Imphal: State and central security forces in Manipur have successfully reclaimed 5,066 of the 6,020 weapons stolen from police armouries during the ongoing state conflict, representing an 84.15 per cent recovery rate.

Official data indicates that, as of the end of October 2026, the total number of seized firearms has reached 9,128 following the confiscation of an additional 4,062 weapons from independent, non-police sources.

Authorities have confirmed that 954 looted police weapons remain missing, raising concerns about their continued use by unauthorised armed groups.

Security forces have scaled up operations to an average of six targeted raids daily, using specialised units to intercept hidden caches across multiple sectors.

A senior police official has disclosed that most recent recoveries consist of non-looted weapons, ranging from legacy firearms to highly sophisticated, modified weaponry.

Senior intelligence officials have said that a substantial portion of these uncatalogued firearms likely originated from Myanmar, with unique weapon characteristics currently serving as primary leads to map external supply chains.

Investigative bodies have stated that definitive confirmation of the origin routes will require exhaustive forensic ballistics, serial-number tracing and coordinated intelligence verification.

Law enforcement agencies have warned that the large volume of secondary arms points to a vast, undetected black-market circulation network operating within the region.

Security experts have concluded that until the remaining police inventory is accounted for and external smuggling routes are dismantled, the volume of illicit arms will pose a critical barrier to restoring regional stability.