Guwahati: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi Wednesday held a law and order review meeting with senior police and home department officials of the State to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council (BTC) area of the state in view of rising incidents of extortion, abduction perpetrated by outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Sangbijit faction).
In presence of the senior police officials including the DGP, J N Chaudhuri, Gogoi called for special strategy to check the growing criminal activities by the militant group in BTC area to restore an atmosphere of confidence among the common people who have been subjected to harassment by the militants.
Emerging out of the meeting, State IGP (Law and Order) S N Singh stated that special strategy had been chalked out to tackle the activities of the NDFB (S).
He said he would pitch camp in BTC area to supervise the police action to neutralize the NDFB (S). “Though the activities of the NDFB(S) have increased, it has not reached such a proportion that the administration will have reasons to fear about it. The group will be brought under control soon,” the police official said.
The NDFB (S) had broken away from the parent NDFB led by Ranjan Daimary after the latter opted for holding dialogue with the government of India to find a solution to the Bodo political problem in Assam.
The faction has set up base in Myanmar with the help of anti-talks faction of the ULFA and its leader Sangbijit is suspected to have taken shelter in Myanmar.
The outfit has been on a spree of extortion and abduction in many parts of BTC areas and in areas of Assam bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
It has served extortion notices to even school teachers and small time businessmen creating much resentment and panic among the common people.
A couple of days back thousands of people gathered at Sarbhog in Barpeta district of western Assam to denounce the NDFB(S) and take vow not to pay any money as demanded by the NDFB(S) ultras.
The public meeting was organised after the NDFB faction had served extortion notices to a large number of teachers in the area and resorted making threatening calls to these teachers for failing to pay money to the ultras.
Pro-talks ULFA leaders meet
Guwahati: The pro-talks ULFA leaders on Wednesday met at a central executive here on Wednesday. All the seven members of the central executive of pro-talks ULFA, including ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa and ‘vice-president’ Pradip Gogoi, were present at the meeting.
Talking to reporters at the end of the meeting, Rajkhowa said it was a routine central executive meeting. ‘ We discussed about the progress of peace talks with the government. All details have already been discussed earlier, but still we went over it,’ he said.
The issue of Anup Chetia’s extradition, who is in a Bangladesh jail, also figured in the discussions.
The pro-talks ULFA is engaged in peace parleys with the government, while another faction of the outfit, led by its ‘c-in-c’ Paresh Barua, has stayed out of the peace process. (UNI)