Mizoram announces reward for capture of militants

The Mizoram government on Wednesday announced a Rs.1 lakh reward for information leading to the capture of five terrorists who killed three policemen in the otherwise peaceful state.

All the five belong to the Manipur-based Hmar People's Convention (Democrats) or HPC-D. They are Thanglawmvel, Rinsang and Lalrohuol, from neighbouring Manipur, and Lalchawimawia and Jacob from Mizoram.

Home Minister R. Lalzirliana said that no peace talks can be initiated with HPC-D unless the outfit eschews violence.

Mizoram is the first and only state in India which got Rs.182.45 crore from the central government in 2000-01 as "Peace Bonus" for keeping peace after decades of insurgency.

That record was shattered on March 28 when the HPC-D ambushed a police party in Mizoram and killed three policemen and seriously wounded six others.

The National Liberation Front of Tripura has also occasionally kidnapped engineers, officials and businessmen from Mizoram to get ransom.

Mizoram shares an unfenced international border of 404 km with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh where terrorists occasionally take shelter after committing crime in Mizoram.