From Our Correspondent
Guwahati:A base of the newly-created elite Cobra Force of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is being set up in Assam to cater to the need of insurgency-hit Northeastern states. The base of the force in the form of a battalion headquarter will be set up in Darrang district of Assam.
For the formality sake, Assam Cabinet will soon take a decision approving setting up of the base of cobra force in the state, a home department source informed.
In fact, Assam government had requested the Centre to set up a base of National Security Guard (NSG) in the state, but New Delhi instead agreed to post a base of Cobra Force.
The base will be a battalion headquarters of the force meant for the entire Northeastern region.
Assam government is now required to provide at least 300 acres of land free of cost to facilitate the base of the elite force.
The training facility in the Cobra Force base will be a boon for Assam Police personnel to undergo specialized training for combating insurgents and Maoists.
The concerned department of Assam has already prepared the Cabinet memorandum and setting up of the base of the Cobra force become a reality after the allotment of land.
The state government has zeroed in a plot of land at Sipajhar in Darrang district, about 50 kilometers away from Guwahati.
The Cobra Force personnel to be based in the Northeast will have a significant role to play in countering terror in the region in days to come.
There have been concerns over Maoists attempt to strike roots in Assam and other parts of the region in coordination with militant outfits from the region including the anti-talks faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Manipur.
In a recent statement made to a section of local media here, the ‘chief’ of the anti-talks faction of the ULFA, Paresh Barua claimed to have coordination with the Maoists.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi during a discussion with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi last week took up the matter of Maoists infiltration and committed to take all steps possible to prevent Maoists set up any base in Assam.
There have been intelligence inputs about Maoists trying to make inroad into anti- dam agitation that is raging in the state especially against under construction 2000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Electricity Project.