Guwahati, Apr 9 : The National Investigation Agency has netted one of the most wanted militants of Manipur’s People Liberation Army (PLA) who had led the first batch of the outfit’s trainers to Jharkhand to coach Maoists cadres in guerrilla warfare.
Describing it as a “major breakthrough”, an NIA source told The Telegraph that the 30-year-old self-styled sergeant major of the PLA — Arnold Singh, alias Bekon — was arrested from Siliguri in Bengal where he was masquerading as a call centre employee for the past five months.
He is also a member of the PLA’s external affairs wing.
A team of officials from NIA’s Guwahati branch which was on his trail, apprehended him from Siliguri on April 2.
The accused was brought to Guwahati yesterday and produced in the NIA special court and remanded in the agency’s custody for 10 days.
Singh was the leader of a four-member team that imparted arms training to Maoists guerrillas in Saranda forest in Jharkhand from September 11 to November 20 in 2010.
The PLA had allegedly “trained the trainers” of Maoists in basic military tactics, guerrilla warfare, ambushing and wireless communication skills.
The accused, who hails from Manipuri Basti in Guwahati, was staying in Calcutta before moving to Siliguri.
“He is a prize catch for us since he is an important cog in the PLA’s wheel for liaisons with the Maoists,” the source said.
He said Singh rented a house in Calcutta in 2009 and from there he used to maintain links with the Maoists.
“His rented house was also being used as transit camp for the PLA in Calcutta,” the source said.
“He shifted his base to Siliguri about five months ago after security agencies increased surveillance in Calcutta against PLA militants taking shelter there,” he said.
The NIA got a whiff of Singh hiding in Siliguri after the arrest of Dhiren Singh, alias Raghu, from Calcutta on February 4.
The source said Arnold Singh was also a close associate of Dilip Singh, alias N. Wangba — chief of PLA’s external affairs wing — and the duo acted as a liaison between Northeast rebel groups and the CPI (Maoist).
Dilip Singh was arrested from a hotel at Paharganj in New Delhi on October 1, 2011.
“Arnold and Dilip Singh had been assigned the work of finalising modalities and supply of arms and ammunition to CPI (Maoist) cadres. Arnold was also instrumental in signing an agreement with Maoists for undertaking joint training and setting up of training camps for the Maoists in Myanmar,” the source added.
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