HPC(D) cadres to surrender arms on April 12

Aizawl, Apr 3 (PTI) Militants of Manipur-based HPC(D)are scheduled to lay down arms on April 12 following theinking of a memorandum of settlement between the outfit andthe Mizoram government on Monday, a senior state homedepartment official said.Additional Secretary for Home Lalbiakzama told PTIthat 103 Hmar People's Convenction (Democratic) militantswould be laying down arms at a programme on April 12 at theCentral Training Institute (CTI) near Sesawng village inAizawl district, headquarters of the Mizoram Home Guards.The MoS also stipulates that the state governmentwould grant amnesty to all the HPC(D) cadres having criminalcases in the state and take steps for relief andrehabilitation/ex-gratia for the cadres hailing from Mizoramwhen they come over ground. Those convicted of any such offences would be grantedremission of sentences and investigations of all the casesagainst the members of the group in the state would be droppedforthwith, he said. The accord signed between the then HPC and the stategovernment in 1994 mainly revolved around establishment ofSinlung Hills Council (SHC) by an act of the statelegislature.As per the provisions of the MoS, the existing SinlungHills Development Council (SHDC) would be rechristened asSinlung Hills Council (SHC) by an act of state legislature.It will be accorded administrative autonomy within the framework agreed upon by both the parties, in the sphere of socio-economic, political and cultural development of the people under the jurisdiction of the SHC. The HPC(D) was formed by Lalhmingthanga Sinate, after the HPC cadres laid down arms following the 1994 accord and continued to demand a separate autonomous district council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for the Hmar community concentrated in the north eastern part of the state adjoining Manipur. The outfit split into two factions - headed by H. Zosangbera and the other by Sanate and were at loggerheads since then. Sanate was recently arrested by the Assam Police for alleged murder of Norbar Sanate, finance secretary of the Zosangbera faction.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)