‘Action to be taken against militants holed up in B’desh’

SHILLONG: Action against militants from the North East including HNLC taking shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh is imminent, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told a news conference here on Monday.
Annoyed over the aggressive posture of the HNLC which on Sunday threatened to unleash terror, the chief minister said the government wants to convey a message to the people that with a friendly neighbouring country and positive steps being taken by the Centre under pressure from the governments of the North East, action will be taken against HNLC and other militant groups which are using the Bangladesh soil.
“We are hopeful that the      Centre will convince Bangladesh to take action against the North East militants,” he said.
To a question, the chief minister said fencing of the border is one of the solutions to address the problem, but the main issue is that of militants like HNLC operating from a foreign soil which needs to be addressed at the earliest.
The chief minister said the recent arrest of HNLC cadres along with ULFA member who were planning subversive activities in Shillong is a cause of concern.
The nexus of GNLA with ULFA was known in the past, but the links of HNLC with ULFA was known only during the arrest of the HNLC-ULFA cadres on May 13.
Security forces believe that GNLA, ULFA, HNLC, NDFB and NLFT, among other militant groups, have their camps in Bangladesh.
Last year, during a border conference, the BSF had handed over a list of 39 camps or hideouts of various militant outfits to its counterpart BGB.
During the Director General level border coordination conference held between BSF and the BGB at Dhaka from May 11 to 16, the BSF had also submitted a fresh list of hideouts of the different insurgents groups of North East existing in Bangladesh seeking action against them.
A separate note on the activities of GNLA chief Sohan D. Shira and ULFA commander in chief Dristi Rajkhowa was also handed over to BGB to for necessary action.
The BGB had assured the BSF delegation that whenever any information is provided by BSF about the existence of hideouts of North East militants, they act upon it; conduct search and destroy camps along with other forces.