From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Security forces engaged in counter insurgency operation in Assam have launched a concerted and focused operation to block flow of fund to the coffer of the anti-talks faction of the ULFA led by fugitive ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua.
“Extorted money being the only source of ‘oxygen’ that is vital for survival of any insurgent group cut off from the masses, the focus is now on cutting off the flow of money to the ULFA to pressurise it to come over ground,” a security source informed.
The anti-talks faction of the ULFA is remote controlling its extortion operations in tea, oil and industrial belt in eastern Assam from their temporary bases in Mon district of Nagaland and Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Mon district has border with Sivasagar district of Assam while Tirap and Changlang have border with Tinsukia and parts of Dibrugarh districts of eastern Assam.
The ULFA militants are trying to regroup in Mon district of Nagaland while they are active in Tirap-Changlang areas of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Myanmar with patronage from Naga rebel group NSCN-K.
Meanwhile, Assam police have asked the tea estates owners in eastern Assam and the business community as a whole in the area not to relent to the demand for money by insurgents (ULFA) and inform the police prompt as soon as they get any phone call or any other communication demanding money from them.
The police while pledging to keep secrecy and provide security to those passing on information about extortion bid by insurgents, warned stern action against anyone found paying money to the insurgents as per the provision of law.
Apart from ULFA ultras, several criminal gangs in eastern Assam areas have been extorting gullible businessmen in the name of the ULFA. These gangs abducted a number of businessmen in eastern Assam for extortion.
The anti-talks faction of the ULFA led by Paresh Barua has set up its base deep inside Myanmar in an area called Taga along the Myanmar-China border.
The group is trying to recruit new cadres in eastern Assam areas while it has struck operational coordination with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur, according to security sources.