Guwahati, May 7 : The recent arrests of members of the militant groups based in the neighbouring States in Guwahati have raised doubts on whether the city is fast becoming a hub of the militants of the region and police admits that the need of the hour is improvement of coordination between the police forces of all the States of the region to deal with such a disturbing situation. Though the militant groups from other States are yet to indulge in any act of violence in the city, but police officials are of the view that the trend of militants taking shelter in Guwahati might pose a grave security threat in the days to come.
In recent months, the city police managed to nab a number of militants belonging to other States in Guwahati and most of them were staying in rented houses and were running their organizations from the city to avoid arrests in their respective States.
A few months back, a few dreaded militants of the Manipur based group UNLF were arrested in the city with huge amounts of money, while, only last week the chief of another Manipur based outfit People’s United Democratic Front (PULF) along with five other militants of the group were arrested. Though the PULF has been lying low for some time, according to security agencies, the outfit was trying to establish links with the Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) and one member of the outfit was arrested in Jammu and Kashmir when he was returning to India after receiving training in the LeT bases in Pakistan.
With Guwahati having a sizeable number of floating population, it is not possible for the police to keep tab on each and every individual and from time to time, the city police called upon the owners of the rented houses to inform the nearest police stations the details of their tenants. However, all the rented house owners are not keeping the police informed.
When asked to comment on the disturbing trend, the city Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), VK Ramisetti told The Assam Tribune that in recent months, the city police achieved success in nabbing the militants from other States taking shelter in the city. However, at the same time, he admitted that the success of the police in this regard might turn out to be tip of the iceberg, as no one knows for sure how many militants of the neighbouring states are taking shelter in Guwahati.
The SSP pointed out that the militants from the neighbouring States use Guwahati not only as a transit route but also for treatment and logistical bases. He said that it is not possible for the police to nab such elements without pinpointed information and efforts are on to improve coordination with the police forces of the neighbouring States. He said that so far, the city police has not come across any plan of the militants of the other States planning any subversive acts in Guwahati, but the possibility of the militant groups using Guwahati to maintain liaison with each other cannot be ruled out.
He pointed out that a good amount of contraband items were recovered from the recently arrested PULF members, which proved that the outfit was involved in “narco-terrorism”. He also pointed out that at one point of time, the third battalion of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) was also operating from a rented house in the Rukminigaon area of the city.
Ramisetti is of the view that the coordination between the police forces of all the North East States and West Bengal should be improved to deal with the situation and the police must try to prepare a database of the senior militant leaders of the region. “We also need more spotters as it is not easy for the police to identify the militants of other States,” he added.
The SSP also admitted that as surrendered members of different militant groups having experience in handling of weapons have settled in the city, the possibility of some of them getting involved in unlawful activities cannot be ruled out and the police would have to keep a close watch on the situation. There have also been instances when surrendered militants were brought to the city to be used as mercenaries to settle business rivalries and recently the city police arrested one surrendered militant from Tripura, who was brought to the city in an attempt to kidnap a businessman.
AT
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