Maoists take Ulfa cash cue

Source: telegraphindia

Dibrugarh, Aug. 18: Maoist rebels, who are trying to establish a strong foothold in Upper Assam and adjoining districts of Arunachal Pradesh, seem to be emulating the tactic used by Ulfa’s Paresh Barua group to lure young blood into its fold — offering cash incentives to fresh recruits.

This came to light after the arrest of five Maoist rebels from various areas in Namsai subdivision of Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district on Wednesday.

A police official today told The Telegraph that the Maoists had so far recruited around 25 youths from villages near the Assam-Arunachal border.

“An incentive of Rs 2,000 is given to any youth who joins the outfit. We discovered this from the diary entries of one of the arrested rebels, Debojit Borgohain, who has confessed to being the training co-ordinator of the outfit,” sub-divisional police officer of Namsai sub division, S.B. Gohain, said.

The rebels, with Borgohain’s diary and some arms and ammunition in their possession, were arrested during a joint operation by Arunachal Pradesh police, Assam police and the army’s 26 Maratha Light Infantry on Wednesday against Maoist rebels operating under Mahadevpur and Namsai police station areas in Namsai sub-division.

The operation was jointly led by Gohain, commanding officer of the infantry unit Col Harinder Chauhan, officer-in-charge of Namsai police station Ratan Nath and officer-in-charge of Mahadevpur police station Lod Tari.

“We had received reports that some organisations were trying to spread left-wing extremism in certain pockets of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The news became a matter of concern for the security forces which were already busy battling Ulfa and NSCN,” a senior police official said.

Security forces and intelligence agencies have also received reports that Maoist rebels were trying to make their presence felt in the region by forming new front organisations.

The letterhead of a newly floated Maoist front organisation — Upper Assam Leading Committee — was recovered during the operation. The letterhead mentioned the Communist Party of India (Maoist) under the committee’s name, pointing to its Maoist origins.

Local sources, however, added that hardcore Maoist rebel Aditya Bora, 48, a resident of Tingkhong in Dibrugarh district, managed to give security forces the slip during the operation.

Bora and two other hardcore Maoist rebels were arrested in Orissa around a year back following a police-Maoist encounter. They were later handed over to Assam police.

But Bora had fled after a court granted him bail and is reported to have re-joined the outfit.

“We have intensified our operations and hope that we will be able to nab Bora and the fleeing members of the outfit. We cannot allow any new outfit to raise its head in our area,” Gohain said.

Arunachal Pradesh police today handed over Biswajit Baruah and Debojit Borgohain to their Assam counterparts for further interrogation and investigation. The duo were today produced before a Tinsukia court, which remanded them in five days’ police custody.

In another development, a joint team of Assam police and the army, acting on revelations by the arrested rebels, picked up two more persons in the wee hours today from Majgaon Tupsinga village in Sadiya subdivision in Tinsukia district for their alleged Maoist links.