IMPHAL/NEW DELHI: Following home minister Amit Shah’s appeal on Thursday asking rebels in Manipur to surrender their weapons ahead of a statewide combing exercise, more than 140 weapons — including self-loading rifles, AK-47s and INSAS rifles — were turned in by different groups until Friday morning.Meanwhile, two more people were killed and at least six injured in clashes between Kuki and Meitei communities in the last 24 hours.

Several houses were also burnt.A clash broke out in two villages of Kangpokpi district bordering Imphal East district, killing two people, including a suspected militant, and injuring as many.

Miscreants also torched one house in the Leimakhong area near Imphal.03:12144 weapons surrendered in Manipur after Amit Shah’s appealIn another clash, over 40 houses of N Molen village and around 30 houses of the nearby T Natyang were torched by mobs.

Elsewhere, four civilians were injured, three in a gun attack and bomb explosion in the Phayeng area, and the other in an encounter between security personnel and suspected militants at the nearby Singda area of Imphal West district.Shah, while addressing a press conference in Imphal at the end of his four-day visit, had warned that combing operations would be undertaken by the state police from Friday and anybody found carrying weapons would face tough action.02:04Manipur violence: As tension prevails, Amit Shah holds meetings, assures peaceTaking cue from the 24-hour window indicated by the home minister to the armed miscreants to escape legal consequences, “around 150 rebels belonging to different communities, which includes Kukis and Meiteis, had surrendered their weapons by Friday morning”, a government source said.

Reports had said that thousands of weapons had gone missing since violence broke out in the state.Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed for some hours in Imphal West, Imphal East and many other areas.