By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The BSF and its counterpart in Bangladesh, BGB have shifted focus on Sherpur in the neighbouring country to neutralize the GNLA and ULFA cadres who are holing up in the area.
The Rapid Action Battalion of Bangladesh is also engaged in search operations, a senior BSF official said.
The BSF had handed over photos of the cadres and information on certain areas of Sherpur where the GNLA-ULFA cadres meet.
“We have information that there are many cadres belonging to both the GNLA and ULFA who are camping in Sherpur and joint operations have begun to catch them,” BSF spokesperson Ravi Gandhi told The Shillong Times.
The GNLA and ULFA members continue to have close coordination and they mix with the Garo villagers in Sherpur which makes it difficult for the security forces to arrest them.
According to the BSF official, the self-styled ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ of ULFA, Drishti Rajkhowa, is married to a Garo woman residing at Sherpur and the same facilitates the gathering of both GNLA and ULFA cadres there.
There are no full-fledged camps of the militants in Sherpur as they are being provided accommodation in thatched houses belonging to sympathizers.
The border forces of both India and Bangladesh are looking to drive away the Northeast militants from the Bangladesh soil after operations in the past yielded major successes resulting in arrest of top militant leaders including GNLA ‘chairman’ Champion R Sangma and ULFA ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa.