TURA, Nov 11: Drishti Rajkhowa, the deputy commander-in-chief of the banned ULFA-Independent outfit, who had been a thorn on the side of security forces for well over two decades and made Garo Hills his base has finally given up his arms and surrendered before the army in a remote region of South Garo Hills on Wednesday afternoon.
Manoj Rabha, who was given the name of Drishti Rajkhowa by the ULFA, gave himself up to a team of army personnel from Assam at Dilsengre village, near Baghmara in South Garo Hills along with four of his cadres and a handful of weapons.
Given the high profile case, the operation was kept top secret by the security forces of Assam and a team of army personnel from 21 division headquarters at Damra in Dudhnoi were deputed to pick up Rajkhowa and his group.
The army dispatched two unmarked Tata Sumo vehicles (red and white color) to South Garo Hills a day earlier to avoid detection.
After taking into custody Drishti and four other ULFA cadres from Dilsengre village the convoy of two vehicles (AS01 AK 9102) and (AS01 EA 4659), were proceeding with their prized catch towards Assam when police from South and East Garo Hills received intelligence inputs about the likely surrender of the dreaded militant leader who was making attempts to cross over the interstate border.
A heavy naka checking at all possible routes along the two Garo Hills districts was put up and, according to high level police sources, the two vehicles were spotted crossing Nangalbibra in South Garo Hills at approximately 6 pm.
Both vehicles were detained at Nengkhra, half an hour later, and on verification found army personnel accompanying the surrendered militants. Drishti and his men were taken in for questioning by East Garo Hills police and later released to the army for their remaining journey to Assam.
Surrendered militants
The five militants who surrendered were Manoj Rabha alias Drishti Rajkhowa (also known as Bura Dada) (50) belonging to Belapra village near Dudhnoi in Assam; Yashin Ali alias Axom (25 years) of Lakhipur in Goalpara; Rupjyoti Rabha alias Lombu (25) of Beldongpara village in Krishnai, Assam; Babul Rabha alias Babul (22) of Chotamati village of Goalpara and Rahul Hazarika alias Laden (27) of Moran in Dibrugarh district.
Arms surrendered
The surrendered militants handed over an AK 81 rifle with 90 live rounds of ammunition, two 9 mm pistols with nine bullets and 8 rounds of .32 ammo.
Ties with GNLA
An expert in improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Drishti was a close confidant of slain GNLA chief Sohan D Shira and was reportedly with him in several operations against security forces.
He is also accused of being with Sohan during the attack on NCP candidate Jonathone Sangma in 2018 during campaigning which led to the politician’s gruesome assasination. Having spent most of his life in Bangladesh and the forests of Garo Hills, Drishti lost much of his support base after the death of Sohan Shira and the ultimate surrender of GNLA cadres.
He narrowly escaped a police encounter in Bolbokgre jungle of Rongara in South Garo Hills Rongara region, two weeks ago, and fled to Bangladesh.
In that operation he had to abandon three bags containing personal belongings and demand note pads of the ULFA. One of his cadres also sustained a serious leg injury during the escape and attempts were made to seek medical aid through local medicine practitioners without much success. He ultimately fled across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh, soon after.
It was in Bangladesh that he found the noose tightening after that country’s elite anti-terrorism unit called the Rapid Action Battalion launched a series of raids on his suspected hideouts in the border areas, three days ago, rounding up several sympathisers and supporters.
Running out of options, he contacted the Indian Army with his willingness to surrender, and was eventually taken into custody on Wednesday.