SHILLONG, Nov 30: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday claimed the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) is low on cadre strength and has no camps in Bangladesh.
BSF Meghalaya Frontier DIG (PSO), D. Haokip told reporters the banned militant outfit has very few cadres left.
His assertion came amid reports of HNLC trying to rebound by triggering improvised explosive devices in Shillong and Khliehriat in the East Jaintia Hills in recent months.
According to Haokip, a few cadres visit Bangladesh on and off as they have relatives and supporters across the border. “But the outfit does not have any camp on Bangladesh soil,” he said.
He said there have been intelligence inputs on Indian insurgent groups (IIGs) taking shelter in certain areas of Bangladesh, particularly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and a few bordering Meghalaya.
But Dhaka and the Border Guards Bangladesh have been denying the presence of the IIGs in Bangladesh, Haokip said.
“The IIGs are taking shelter in Bangladesh. But it is difficult to provide the exact number,” he said.
The BSF DIG said the present government in Bangladesh has been putting a lot of pressure on the IIGs for almost 10 years and many of the militant camps have been destroyed. “As far as our knowledge goes, there are no organised camps. But the cadres of some of the IIGs are still moving between India to Bangladesh,” he said.
Haokip said there is a significant presence of the National Liberation Front of Tripura and other insurgent groups of the state in the Chittagong Hills Tract.
He said 117 border outposts have already been constructed on the Bangladesh frontier and another 125 have been sanctioned. “The ones sanctioned are still pending. It will take some more time before they can consider the proposal of new BOPs,” Haokip said.