Nine more BOPs on Indo-Bangla border: BSF DG

T
he Director General of Border Security Force (BSF), Raman Srivastava, has said that nine more Border Outposts (BOPs) would be set up and locations of 17 BOPs would be changed along the 856 km long Indo-Bangla border in Tripura to prevent insurgents of the North Eastern region from entering Indian territory.

The D.G., who arrived in Agartala on Monday, held a series of meetings with top BSF officials of the state, visited two
Border Outposts (BOP) and met Governor Dr Kamala and Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

''So, we are looking for new lands near the zero line of the International border for setting up of 26 BOPs for more
stringent vigil along the Indo-Bangla border so that insurgents using the soil of the neighbouring country cannot
sneak into Indian territory,'' he said.

At present there are 245 BOPs in Tripura and nine more BOPs would soon be added.'' he told reporters at the
Civil Secretariat after meeting the chief minister on Monday night.

Official sources said the chief minister requested the BSF DG to keep close vigil on the border and guard it effectively
so that the insurgents who were fleeing from the neighbouring country following security operations there could not enter
into Indian territory.

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ULFA splinter group does a Shiv Sena

T
he pro-talks group of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) took a leaf out of the Shiv Sena book to raid the office of an Assamese daily in eastern Assam's Tinsukia town on Monday afternoon.

According to employees of the multi-edition Dainik Janambhoomi, a group of armed men led by Prabal Neog, ex-commander of the ULFA's 28 Battalion raided their office around 3.10 pm.

The use of the word 'surrendered' prefixed to his name in a report apparently angered Neog, who prefers being addressed as 'pro-talks ULFA leader'. The daily had also been running a series on the pro-talks group's extortion drive in eastern Assam.

"The group damaged office furniture besides holding a pistol against one of our staff. The manager was out of station, and most of the reporters were in the field at that time. Neog and his men went away in a huff after locking the office," an employee of the daily said.

The office manager later lodged an FIR with the Tinsukia police against Neog and his men. "We are looking into the case," said district Superintendent of Police Diganta Bora.

Neog, caught in 2007 near Tezpur, is one of a troika of leaders controlling the ULFA's dreaded A & C companies that declared truce over a year ago. The other two are Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta. Some 300 cadres of these two companies are housed in two designated camps, one at Kakopathar and the other near Sadiya, both in Tinsukia district.

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Five Assam Rifles troopers killed in Manipur

F
ive paramilitary troopers, including a major and a captain, were killed in an ambush by separatists on Monday in Manipur, officials said.

A defence spokesperson said heavily armed militants of the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF) attacked a convoy of the paramilitary Assam Rifles near Samtol village in Chandel district, about 120 km south of Manipur state capital Imphal.

"UNLF militants opened indiscriminate fire with automatic weapons on the convoy in which two Assam Rifles officers, a major and a captain, and three troopers were killed," the Assam Rifles commander said.

The UNLF is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Metei community in a state of 2.4 million people.

The militants fired from a hilltop as the convoy snaked through a mountainous terrain while the Assam Rifles personnel were on a routine patrol in the area, bordering Myanmar.

"There was no reaction time as the militants were in an advantageous position and fired a volley of shots," the official said.

The Assam Rifles are engaged in anti-insurgency operations in Manipur.

Police and paramilitary troopers have since begun a massive combing operation in the thickly forested area after the attack.

"In all probability the militants might have sneaked into bases inside Myanmar," the official said.

There are about 20 militant groups active in Manipur with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.

More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Manipur during the past two decades.

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