Guwahati: It was not the commander-in-chief of the NDFB-S, I K Songbijit , but his deputy Bidai who masterminded the December 23 carnage of over 70 Adivasis in the state.
It has been claimed by Assam police here this evening.
Assam Police IG (Law and Order) S N Singh, told media here this evening that the massacre was carried out not at the instructions of the supreme leader of the outfit, I K Songbijit but it was his deputy Bidai, who had ordered the killings.
The police have given virtual clean chit to NDFB(S) chief Songbijit in connection with the dastardly killings of Adivasi villagers.
The massacre was carried out in retaliation to December 21 encounter with security forces in which two NDFB(S) militants were killed while two others escaped, one of them being Bidai himself.
The police IG said Assam Police received information on the possible attacks at 1434 hours from its own intelligence sources on the day of incident (December 23) and through the SMAC (responsible for coordinating intelligence sharing between agencies) at 1600 hours.
The attacks began late afternoon and security forces failed to cover all vulnerable areas, though prompt security deployment in several places thwarted planned attacks on those places, the IGP claimed.
He further said the NDFB(S) had a cadre strength of about 100 prior to the massacre but most have now fled the state due to the crackdown on the outfit.
About 100 arrests have been made so far in connection with the massacre, of which four are NDFB(S) cadres out of whom two were directly involved in the attacks, Singh added.