Imphal, March 25: A brief exchange of fire among security force personnel due to misunderstanding was the highlight off a massive search operation conducted from the foothill till the top of Baruni range today.

The search operation is informed to have been jointly launched by State and paramilitary force personnel from three directions of the hill range - Andro, Wakha and Gouranagar.

According to local sources security forces belonging to Imphal East and West commandos, and personnel of 4 and 32 Assam rifles personnel had converged at the three places from early morning and after beginning the search operation from the foothill towards the top volley of shots were released from both the commando and the AR side which however did not result in any casualties on either side.

The firing took place at the peak of the hill range and reportedly involved security personnel ascending from Andro and Wakha sides.

There is also no report of arrest of underground elements during the operation which police officials claimed was conducted to cleanse the hilly terrain of disruptive elements and for safe passage of the annual Baruni pilgrimage slated for March 27.In addition to arrival of DIG (Range-I) S Dinokumar where the operations were being conducted, SPs of Imphal east S Kailun and Imphal west Clay Khong-sai also rushed to the scene to take stock of the situation.

During an informal interaction with media-persons at the Baruni hill range, Kailun informed that the operation was launched to drive out UG activists, if any, in advance of the annual pilgrimage.

Even though some firing sounds most likely to be from fleeing UGs could be heard no encounter took place, the SP added.

Seeking public cooperation to ensure that the pilgrimage pass off smoothly, the SP appealed to all concerned against carrying weapons likely to cause injuries like daggers etc and to avoid consumption of alcohol.

Meanwhile, a combined force of Bishnupur police commando and 15 JKLI launched a counter insurgency operation at various parts of Toubul and Thinungei this morning and picked up two suspected persons for further verification.

The Thinungei operation began at around 2 am and Toubul at around 6 am.

According to a late report, one of the person picked up from Thinungei has been verified as an activist of UNLF.

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