Manipur Police has inducted three hovercrafts, military assault boats from USA, into its Loktak Protection Force, thus becoming the first police force in the country to have military assault boats.

The Chief Minister of Manipur, Okram Ibobi Singh said that the air-cushion vehicle (ACV) would be used to flush out insurgents and also in conserving the fresh water lakes in the State. The Loktak lake has been used by insurgents to carry out antisocial activities in the valley.

The hovercrafts have each have a capacity to carry seven passengers and 10 different types of sophisticated weapons. The assault boats have a speed of 68 km per hour in water. The Chief Minister said, if necessary more hovercrafts would be purchased. The Loktak Protection Force was established with the twin objective of domination of the lake and for enforcement of the Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act-2006.

The Director General of Police, Y. Joykumar said that the Manipur Police had become the first force to acquire high-tech military assault boats which even the Indian Army and other States had not acquired. The Loktak lake has been used by the insurgents to hide.

The Loktak Protection Force, with a strength of 200 personnel under the command of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, will start utilizing the hovercrafts for domination of the lake. The craft can be put into operation from 200 to 210 days a year, he added.