Mizoram government has announced a financial rehabilitation scheme for the 16 armed insurgents of the Manipur’s Hmar Revolutionary Force (HRF), who formally surrendered to the State Home Minister recently, a senior State Government official has said. Aizawl district Deputy Commissioner C Ropianga announced that the surrendered insurgents would be given a financial rehabilitation package of Rs. 10,000 each. The insurgents could get more money after the State Government calculates the prevailing prices of the surrendered arms, he said.

The HRF was formed by Lainzama Hrangchal a former ‘army chief’ of the erstwhile underground Hmar People’s Convention (HPC). The outfit’s main operation area was southern Manipur and it occasionally clashed with another Hmar outfit called HPC (Democrats) led by Lalhmingthanga Sanate. Recently, Hrangchal escaped an attempt on his life by the HPC (D) and NSCN (IM) combine inside his camp in Manipur’s Senvon area. He has been hiding since then.

This is the third time that Hmar insurgents have surrendered to the Mizoram government — with the first being the HPC led by Hmingchungnumg. On October 27, 1994, 308 HPC militants surrendered to the State Government along with their arms.