57 militants surrender before Manipur CM

Imphal, Dec 16 : 57 militants of different outfits surrendered in the presence of Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh today, official sources said. Sources said that cadre of 10 main militant outfits gave themselves up before Singh at the Mantripukhri Inspector General AR South complex this afternoon. They operated for PLA, UNLF, Prepak, KYKL, PULF, KNLF, NSCN (K), UKLF, PRA and KCP. DGP of Manipur Police Y Joykumar Singh and IG Assam Rifles South Maj General Gurung were present. A Shillong report earlier said, quoting an AR release that, the surrendered ultras laid down arms and ammunition. The surrendered ultras also included some factional groups. The Shillong report also gave the break-up number of surrendered cadre - UNLF- 5, PULF (AZAD) - 15, PULF (UF) - 2, PULF (MI KHAN) - 1, KCP (MTF) - 1, PREPAK (VC) - 2, PREPAK - 6, KCP (CITY MEITEI) - 1, KCP- 2, KCP (TABONGIA) - 1, PREPAK (PRO) - 1, PRA - 1, PLA - 6, KNLF- 6, KYKL - 4, UTLA- 2, NSCN(K)- 1. The surrendered ultras and their family members thanked the Assam Rifles for giving them the opportunity to join the mainstream, the release said. Congratulating the surrendered ultras for taking the decision to come overground for peace, the CM applauded the role of the Assam Rifles in facilitating the surrender and helping the misguided youth of Manipur through various rehabilitation programmes.

568 UPDS cadres lay down arms

DIPHU (KARBI ANGLONG), Dec 14 - Marking an end to its arms movement, the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) today laid down arms, vowing to contribute towards the development and peace of Karbi Anglong through political activism.

Having already made its political pursuits clear, a total of 568 members of the outfit, including 14 from the central executive committee, took part in the arms laying ceremony organised at the KASA Stadium here in the presence of Assam DGP Sankar Barua, General Officer Commanding, 4 Corps, Shakti Gurung, ADGP Khagen Sarma and Deputy Commissioner of Karbi Anglong Rakesh Kumar, among others.

The ceremony was also attended by a cross-section of people from the hill district, which turned up at the venue in large numbers.

The militant outfit, which inked the ceasefire pact with the Government of India in August 2002, declared itself disbanded taking off the camouflage fatigues later in the day to be replaced by a civil outfit.

The cache of arms and ammunition that was laid down included 85 rifles of AK series, 40 MM UBGL and five M 16 rifles, beside others.

Addressing the people of Karbi Anglong after formally pledging to abjure violence, Longsodar Senar, chairperson, UPDS, said, “It is a beginning of a new era for the people of Karbi Anglong. We are now part of a process that seeks peace and social harmony. We had our share of achievements and disappointments during our armed struggle and there is no denying that people had suffered directly or indirectly during the course of our movement. I, on behalf of the outfit, apologise for that.”

“I also want to say that the supreme sacrifice made by our cadres will not go in vain. Let us also vow that we will never allow petty ambitions and vested interests to be a stumbling block in the process of peace and development. Let us all make Karbi Anglong and our movement a success story,” Senar said.

Earlier, general secretary, of UPDS, Haren Singh Bey, while talking to reporters, said that if things went as planned, Karbi Anglong would stand at par with other districts of the State in terms of development.

“Early implementation of the clauses of the Memorandum of Settlement by the Centre and the State will be a key," Bey asserted, adding the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council election scheduled for January next year would mark the beginning of their entry in the political arena.

Shakti Gurung, GOC, 4 Corps, terming the day as historic, expressed his gratitude to the UPDS for joining the mainstream.

He also renewed his appeal to the KLNLF and the KPLT to abjure violence and contribute towards restoration of peace and development in the hill district.

Assam DGP Sankar Barua, too, reiterated the appeal and urged the other active militant outfits of the State to come to the negotiation table.

"Mizoram could be an example to follow. Come to the mainstream and be a part of the social, political and economic leadership," said Barua.

ADGP (Special Branch) Khagen Sarma also addressed the gathering.

A safe haven and much more next door

On Monday, the Gauhati High Court in Assam extended the interim bail of Jewel Garlossa and Niranjan Hojai—chairperson and self-styled commander-in-chief of Dima Halam Daoga (Jewel)—one of the prominent insurgent outfits of the north-eastern India fighting for a separate Dimasaland.

The two months extension of bail was granted following expiry of their earlier bail of four months. Both Assam government and National Investigation Agency told the court they had no objection to the extension considering progress in peace talks with the outfit.

But besides taking the peace process forward, Hojai, who was arrested by Nepal Police in July last year from the Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu and handed over immediately to Indian authorities, has been indulging in other activities as well.

Earlier this month following an alert by Indian intelligence agencies, Nepal Police laid hands on US $ 200,000 which Hojai is believed to have transferred from a Citibank account in Singapore to an account in the New Baneshwor branch of Everest Bank in Kathmandu.

The amount remitted to the account of Hojai’s wife Sarita Giri reveals how insurgent outfits from the north-east have been using Nepal as a safe haven to conduct their operations with relative ease due to lax security and an open border between both countries.

Investigations conducted by the police in Kathmandu and interrogation of his wife expose how Hojai, who had escaped from Assam in 2009 following his surrender, had managed to procure a Nepali identity, a Nepali wife and an alternative lifestyle.

Hojai got a Nepali passport in the name of Nirmal Rai, married Sarita allegedly posing as a businessman, fathered a child with her, bought a palatial home and several luxury cars in Kathmandu and went on family vacations to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

The fresh revelations confirm what Indian authorities have been telling their Nepali counterparts for many years now—that the Himalayan nation is being used by terror elements from India as a transit point or safe shelter from where they can continue their operations unhindered.

“In bilateral security meetings every time Indian counterparts raised the issue of ultras from that country using Nepali soil we used to tell them that it’s not true. But the recent incident has proved their claims,” a senior police official was quoted by the ‘Kantipur’ daily.

Hojai is accused by NIA of diverting public funds for insurgent actitivties and waging a war against the Indian government. Now Nepal Police wants to charge him for procuring Nepali citizenship and passport using fake papers.

Significantly, Hojai is not the first ultra from north-east India with Nepal connections. His boss Jewel Garlossa who was arrested in Bengaluru in June last year has admitted to being based in Nepal before shifting base and had travelled to Bangkok in 2007 using Nepali passports.

In October last year, Anthony Shing aka Ningkhan Shimray, the foreign affairs chief of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) was arrested at the Tribhuwan International Airport here while he was apparently on his way from Bangkok to New Delhi to take part in peace talks.

A month later, Rajkumar Meghen, chairman of the banned United National Liberation Front (UNLF) of Manipur, was arrested by a team of National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Bihar police when he was about to board a Nepal-bound bus from Motihari in Bihar.

Meghen, one of north-east India’s most wanted militant leaders, known as Sana Yaima by his supporters, had a Nepali name as well. Police say he used to call himself Raju Shreshtha.

The recent revelations about Hojai has just given credence to what was suspected all along—that Nepal is indeed a safe haven for ultras from India and efforts need to be intensified to deny them the facilities they enjoy in this neighbouring nation.

Kishenji’s N-E Nexus Exposed

Secret exchanges between the Maoists and a Manipuri rebel outfit show that the slain Naxal leader was seeking an access to China. Ratnadip Choudhury reports

Common cause PLA guerillas trained Maoist cadres
ON 1 OCTOBER, Delhi Police nabbed a priceless catch when a raid at a hotel in Paharganj led to the arrest of N Dilip Singh alias N Wangba, the external affairs chief of the banned People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur. Along with Dilip, 51, his deputy, Arun Kumar Singh Salam, 36, was also arrested. Their interrogation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) revealed startling information about how the nexus between the CPI(Maoist) and the PLA had blossomed ever since the two outfits signed a joint declaration on 22 October 2008 against the Indian government.

Dilip Singh

Common cause The secret letters were routed through PLA’s Dilip Singh


Common cause A file photo of Kishenji
Photo: Pintu Pradhan
There have been reports that Dilip was helping the Maoists reach out to rebel groups in the Northeast, and that Maoists were trying to spread the idea of a Strategic United Front of all rebel outfits operating in the restive region. All these reports were source-based inputs. Now, TEHELKA has accessed secret letters between the Maoists and the PLA leadership, all routed through Dilip, which reveal how the nexus was formed and how this scheme was the brainchild of slain Maoist leader Kishenji himself. TEHELKA has not independently verified the authenticity of these letters, which were provided by reliable police sources.
On 24 January 2010, CPI(Maoist) General Secretary Ganapathy wrote to Irengbam Chaoren, president of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) of Manipur (PLA is the armed wing of the RPF). In the letter, Ganapathy informed the PLA that the Maoists have to call off the planned military training because of Operation Green Hunt. He also proposed a meeting for which he would send two Maoist Central Committee (MCC) members and said that the main agenda of the talks should be the formation of a Strategic United Front. The meeting took place on 18-20 March 2010, in which Kishenji was also present. TEHELKA has a copy of the minutes of that meeting.
On 22 March 2010, Kishenji sent a letter to the PLA in which he floated the idea of forming a grand alliance to unite all rebel groups in which the Maoists would take the lead role. “We put one proposal regarding building a united front that will be strategic in nature comprising all the revolutionary, democratic and progressive forces of the Northeast. We also put the proposal of helping us by sending instructors for military and communication training and also sending 3-5 men for military and other training,” wrote Kishenji.
In the first bilateral meeting, it was decided that the PLA would start a 12-14 month training camp for Maoists from September 2010. The PLA agreed to send two trainers each for military and communication training. The PLA also agreed to provide arms and communication devices to Maoists; all these were noted in the meeting’s minutes, in which Kishenji has been referred to as Kishan Da.
Further meetings were held in Kolkata, Guwahati and Rourkela. According to NIA sources, a meeting for finalising the training schedule was held in Champai, Mizoram, which was attended by Kishenji. The sources confirmed that Dilip confessed that arms training did take place in the Saranda forest of Jharkhand on 11-20 November 2010, but it was cut short.
TEHELKA has in its possession another secret letter that clarifies why the training was cut short. On 30 December 2010, Sagar, a top commander of the Maoist armed unit, sent a secret missive to the RPF general secretary. The letter reveals that while the Maoists could not start the training on time owing to massive operations against them by the Joint Forces, the PLA failed to send the high-frequency wireless communication devices on time.
The letter is interesting if one reads between the lines. Sagar airs his disappointment over the fact that the PLA trainers left early, although the training was supposed to last three months. It becomes clear that the two outfits could not take the bonhomie further due to serious “hiccups” during the first phase of training.
China reportedly sent an ‘assurance’ through the PLA leaders that they are willing to help the Maoists
The PLA was given a contract of procuring Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and high-end wireless sets. “We have found out that the PLAwas supposed to hand over high-frequency wireless sets before the training started, but they were able to send it only at a later date,” an NIA source said.
Kishenji was trying to develop secret links with other rebel groups in the Northeast, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) or NSCN(IM). The latter’s chief arms procurer Anthony Shimray, who is in NIA custody, confessed that a huge cache of arms for the Maoists was purchased from a Chinese company. The consignment included automatic rifles, rocket launchers and grenades. TEHELKAwas informed by an insider from the anti-talk faction of ULFA that Kishenji was in touch with ULFA army chief Paresh Barua, who led him to Shimray.
IN 2008, when the PLA and the Maoists signed the joint declaration, another development was taking place that eventually was seen as ‘beneficial’ by Kishenji. According to intelligence sources, Paresh Barua and Chaoren flew to Kunming in China’s Yunan province from Dhaka and had two meetings with Chinese military intelligence brass in February. In May, they flew again to Beijing and an understanding was reached on arms dealing. At that time, the PLA had urged the Chinese to help the Maoists and an “assurance” from the Chinese was sent through the PLA.
In the sensational letter from Kishenji available with TEHELKA, the Maoists had stressed on forming a Strategic United Front as a means to “counter the physiological war” of New Delhi. The minutes of the meeting between the PLA and the Maoists where Kishenji was present clearly states: “The Maoists have agreed to the RPF/PLA proposal of maintaining contact and collaborating with foreign countries.”
The Maoist-PLA nexus might have taken several blows due to the arrest of various PLA cadre and Kishenji’s death but the worry for New Delhi is perhaps the fact that the Maoists have access not only to Northeast rebel outfits but through them to the Chinese as well.
Ratnadip Choudhury is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka. ratnadip@tehelka.com

Bangladesh assures firm action against Indian insurgents

Bangladesh's border guards Monday assured firm action against insurgents from India's northeastern states taking shelter in that country, an Indian officer said.

The commitment was made at the four-day inspector general-level Border Coordination Conference between India's Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh, which began here at the BSF frontier headquarters.

"They have assured us that they would take firm action against the Indian insurgents if they take shelter in Bangladesh," BSF spokesman Ravi Gandhi told IANS after the first day's meeting.

Though Gandhi refused divulge further details, but a BSF official said that the BSF has prepared a list of 46 camps belonging to several insurgents groups operating from Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet and Mymensingh districts besides other regions.

BSF Inspector General (Headquarters) S.K. Mishra, who led the Indian side, appreciated the commitment made by the Bangladesh government not to allow its territory for any activity inimical to India.

Mishra, however, expressed concern on the frequent crimes committed by Bangladeshi nationals inside Indian territory - poaching, illegal migration and smuggling of fake Indian currency notes and cattle.

The BSF troopers have seized 333,520 bottles of cough syrup Phensidyl and a large quantity of ganja (marijuana) during the past 22 months being smuggled to Bangladesh through the India-Bangladesh border with Tripura alone, the paramilitary official said.

India-made Phensidyl is banned in Bangladesh as many people, specially youths, taking it as a recreational narcotic.

Four northeastern Indian states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam - share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh. The dense forests, mountainous terrain, unfenced and other hitches make the borders porous and vulnerable.

Bangladesh Guards Deputy Director General (DDG) Brig. Gen. Abu Sayeed Khan, Khan, who was leading a 13-member delegation, also raised the issues like killing, kidnapping and injuring of unarmed Bangladeshi nationals by BSF and Indian nationals in bordering areas, illegal trespassing of Indian nationals and pushing in of Bengali-speaking Indian citizens to Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, both the forces agreed to strengthen joint efforts to prevent trans-border crimes and maintain closer cooperation and better understanding between the two forces with constructive engagement at all levels besides,agreeing to strengthen confidence building measures and institutional linkages between the two forces. Meanwhile, India has speed up efforts to complete construction of fencing along the frontier with Bangladesh by 2013, and 500 new border outposts would be set up.

Currently, over 70 BSF battalions are deployed for security along the India-Bangladesh border as well as for counter-insurgency operations in the northeast.

To maintain effective vigil along the frontier with Bangladesh, the distance between two border outposts is likely to be reduced from the present 4.5 km to 2.8 km.

Tura-bound dealers held with weapons meant for militants

Dhubri, Dec. 12 : The arrests of three arms dealers have proved that militant groups in the Garo hills districts of Meghalaya bordering Goalpara and Kamrup are fortifying themselves with arms and ammunition supplied from the neighbouring states.

Mozammel Haque, 38, Rahim Ali, 25 and Ranjan Biswas, 42 of Jalpaiguri (in West Bengal) were yesterday apprehended by the 13th Sikh Regiment and police with arms and ammunition while they were travelling to Tura in Meghalaya in a car near Lakhipur under Goalpara district.

The army seized a 7.65 pistol of Italian make, two 9mm pistols and a magazine loaded with five rounds of ammunition.

In another joint operation by the army and the police, Nur Hussain, 35, a cadre of the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (Multa), was apprehended from Phulgasa village under Lakhipur police station of Goalpara with a 9mm pistol and ammunition today.

All four were handed over to Lakhipur police station, an army source said.

The source said the three had contacts with some individuals in Tura and they were going to supply arms and ammunition to them.

The consignment could be for some militant groups active in Garo hills districts, the source

“The police are interrogating them and after a thorough interrogation, it could be known to which group the consignment was meant for. But we are keeping a close watch on the findings of interrogation which will help us in our next operation,” the army source said.

Goalpara additional superintendent of police Sushanta Biswa Sarma said security forces and the police were leaving no stone unturned to break the networks of all militants groups and for that they were operating fast as soon as any information reached.

On the GNLA, Sarma said that according to the police, this militant group was not operating in Goalpara district. An intelligence source working in lower Assam said after the ethnic clash between the Rabhas and the Garos in January this year, militants of the Rabha Viper Army (RVA) and the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) have become more active.

Cache of Explosives found in a box in Jowai town

Shillong, Dec 11 (PTI) A huge cache of explosives was today found in a box near a temple in Meghalaya's Jowai town, 62 km east from here,police said. About three kg of IEDs, three detonators, fuse wires and gelatine sticks were found by a shopkeeper, who informed the police at around 9 am, they said. The explosive was found in a box kept at a fish stall opposite to the temple created panic in the sleepy town, police said. The district administration which does not have its own bomb disposal squad had to wait for three hours for a special bomb squad team from Shillong, they said. The shopowner was detained for questioning, but police said they suspect the hands of underground rebels who could have brought the explosives.