Rebel leader held for third time

Dhubri, April 29 : The self-styled commander-in-chief of Rabha Viper Army, Sunil Rabha, alias Chinese, was apprehended for the third time by the army and handed over to police in Goalpara today.

Rabha, who was involved in number of killings, abductions and extortion in Goalpara and part of Kamrup districts, including abduction of a railway official from Dudhnoi last year, was arrested twice within a span of two years.

But on both the occasions he managed to get bail and returned to the organisation, a source said.

Rabha and another member of the group, Prakash Rabha, were apprehended by 9 Sikh Light Regiment at Dudhnoi check gate.

The army recovered one Pakistan-made revolver and Rs 43,222 from them.

“In all the militancy-related cases, police hardly get eyewitnesses and concrete evidence because of fear reprisal and the militants take advantage of this situation and get bail and commit same crimes thereafter,” the police source said.

But if the investigating officer of the case is a little careful and try to convince the judges about granting bail to such persons, then the judges might refuse them bail, the source said.

The officer-in-charge of Dudhnoi police station, Gokul Baruah, said this time there were ample evidence against the both militants with the police and they would investigate and file chargesheets.

“We will take utmost care this time and frame charges on the basis of the material evidences so that the militants do not get bail easily,” Baruah said.

Intelligence sources in Goalpara said the Rabha Viper Army was active on the Assam-Meghalaya border and was involved in abduction and extortion.

The outfit is most potent organisation at the grassroots level, which provides logistic support to both Ulfa and the NDFB and keep liaison with the Garo National Army (GNA) of Meghalaya.

If this organisation is not marginalised at this level, it will be hard to wipe out Ulfa and the NDFB, which are lying low now, an intelligence source said.

The police have evidences of the RVA and GNA involvement in ethnic clash of Rabha-Garo in January this year but most of their top leaders are now in jail and there are hardly 10 or 12 cadres at large now, the source added.