Delhi mulls flushout from Naga camps

Guwahati: The Centre will launch an operation to smoke out leaders and activists of Assam militant outfits holed up in Naga rebel camps in Nagaland. Highly placed sources in the state home department on Monday said Dispur had pointed out to Delhi that these camps had become a major source of trouble for the state as militants belonging to several outfits like ULFA, ANLA and DHD (J) were taking refuge there under the patronage of the Naga rebels.

While some senior ULFA cadres were said to be carrying out their activities from camps of the NSCN (K), militants belonging to the other two outfits were being hosted by the NSCN (I-M) in their camps. “However, given that the government is in a ceasefire with the two Naga outfits, it is Delhi’s responsibility to ensure that their camps are not misused,” a source said, adding that the Centre has assured Dispur that it would take action in the wake of the recent blasts.
Sources said home minister P. Chidambaram was told about the development during his recent visit to the state. A senior police official said Uttam Bengra and John Toppno, the two dreaded ANLA militants involved in the recent Rajdhani blast, top DHD (J) commander Athen Hapila alias Daku, who escaped from a prison in Haflong recently, were holed up in Nagaland.

Recently, several ANLA cadres, including Samson Saha, were apprehended along the Assam-Nagaland border while they crossed over from Nagaland. A police official in Karbi Anglong said it was because of the fact that the ANLA cadres were finding a safe haven in Naga camps that it was becoming increasingly difficult to arrest them. “Operations against the ANLA militants have intensified in recent times, especially after they tried to trigger another blast on the Rajdhani Express. We apprehended a few but most of them are taking shelter across the border,” the official said.

He said though the police have specific information about the ANLA cadres taking shelter in designated Naga militant camps, the cops are helpless since it would be in violation of ceasefire ground rules with Naga militants if those camps were attacked. “We are in touch with our counterparts in Nagaland but they also seem helpless,” the official said.

In fact, the ANLA commander-in-chief, Nirmal Tirki, had revealed that the bomb the outfit used to trigger the blast under the Rajdhani Express in 2007 was bought from Naga militants. Tirki, who was arrested in Jharkhand, is now in the custody of Assam police. Home department sources said a few cadres of the B company of ULFA’s 28 battalion were also being sheltered by Naga militant outfits. “As long as Naga militant outfits continue to provide shelter to these Assam militants, it is impossible to apprehend them,” he said.

Army sources in Sivasagar said several hardcore ULFA cadres of the B company of the 28 battalion were holed up in Mon district of Nagaland, bordering Sivasagar district. “These militants are being provided logistical support by the NSCN (K). These ULFA cadres cross over the border, carry out strikes in Assam and hop right back,” the army official said. Intelligence sources said the B company had set up a camp in Mon district recently with the help of the NSCN (K), after the A and C companies declared a unilateral ceasefire in June last year.

Source: The Morung Express