Author: Sanjoy Bhadra
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: January 16, 2003
In a sensational revelation, intelligence
officers have come to know that militants of Assam's National Democratic
Federation of Bodoloand have close links with ISI operatives.
Sources said they had learnt that
13 NDFB ultras had recently been sent to Pakistan for arms training. These
militants had already undergone training at camps in the jungles of Bhutan.
The trip to Pakistan was reportedly for advanced training.
This revelation has once again brought
to light the fact that Northeast militant outfits are in cahoots with the
ISI. Sources claimed this was the first time an ISI-NDFB nexus has been
found.
Earlier, The Asian Age had reported
that the vice-chairman of the NDFB, Dhiren Bodo - arrested from a flat
in Gangtok on January 1 - had revealed that his organisation was trying
to enter into an agreement with different fundamentalist groups in Pakistan.
The NDFB ultras are also trying to build a network with Maoist rebels in
Nepal.
From NDFB leader Amarendra Daimari's
possession, the North Bengal police had recovered a map that defined the
borders of the proposed Bodoland.
"The areas comprise Cooch Behar,
Jalpaiguri, the Tura region of Meghalaya, Goyalpara, Naogaon and Kokrajhar
in Assam, and Rangpur and Maimanshigha districts of Bangladesh," a senior
Jalaiguri police officer said.
Meanwhile, the Centre has decided
to deploy eight Special Security Bureau battalions at the Indo- Bhutan
border to intensify security. The director general of the SSB, V.K. Mallik,
who met West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Wednesday
to discuss various security measures at the border, disclosed this.
Recently, SSB officials visited
the Indo-Bhutan border from North Bengal to Arunachal Pradesh to assess
the situation in the border areas.
Mr Mallik emphasised the need to
create awareness among people living in border areas about insurgents receiving
support from neighbouring countries. The SSB will take out security awareness
padyatras in these border areas.
Meanwhile, in a strategic move,
the Indian Army is trying to seal the Indo-Butan border. This move is being
contemplated in order to cut off the supply lines of ultras who often come
down to North Bengal from the jungles of Bhutan to collect food and money
to run their camps in the jungles.
The GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, J.S.
Verma, said: "We are trying to seal the border to cut their supply line."
He also admitted that there were intelligence reports about the ultras'
efforts to shift camp from Bhutan to Bangladesh.
Mr Verma also revealed that Army
Intelligence was helping the state administration in tracking down KLO
and People's War cardres. "Though this is the state administration's responsibility,
we are sharing intelligence inputs with them to flush out KLO and PW ultras."