evidence: Basically, these are military weapons that can rain death and destruction in concentrated areas where people are assembled. Therefore, these are prohibited from being used against civilian crowds during protests, rallies and law and order operations. In fact, army columns deployed in aid to civil authority under Section 131 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) are not allowed to carry these weapons. But now the Manipur police, whose sole purpose is to handle protests and law and order situations, have them and are using them under direct orders from the chief minister who have no legal or statutory authority under CrPC or any other law. This is what the police sources say:> [...] There are also reports that the Manipur Police has now acquired medium machine guns (MMGs) which is the infantry’s "weapon of mass killing" and they have sought training from the Army. These MMGs, sourced from the ordnance factory in Jabalpur are supposedly to replace light machine guns (LMGs) which were partially looted from the police armouries during the initial stages of the unrest in May-June 2023 allegedly with the full connivance of the chief minister and his minions. >