Glare on KLO rift over encounter - Militant outfit’s general secretary accuses cadres of shooting Rambo in Assam

TT, Siliguri, Oct. 28: The KLO general secretary, Kailash Koch, has alleged that three members of the outfit killed Rambo Koch alias Samar Roy in “a fake encounter” in Assam’s Kokrajhar district on October 25, indicating that the schism within the organisation is widening.

In a press release issued by Kailash yesterday, he accused Rajiv Kathai alias Sonu alias Bimal Roy (KLO’s self-styled publicity secretary), Raja alias Khagen Barman and Banko of shooting the outfit’s member Rambo and alleged that the trio “were members of Assam police’s informer and miscreant groups”.

The release also read: “We strongly condemn such criminal, immoral acts and cowardice activities of the miscreant groups.”

Kailash said Assam police’s claim that they had killed Rambo in an encounter at Chesapani, near Magurmari, Kokrajhar district, was “totally false and baseless”.

Magurmari is around 220km from Guwahati.

Intelligence sources said the press statement showed that the rift within KLO was growing. “There have been two lobbies in KLO. One group comprises those from north Bengal who favour talks with the government over their demands. Tom Adhikary and Pradip Roy, who held posts like vice-chairman and assistant general secretary respectively, are among them. The other group is headed by Kailash Koch and others from Assam and they are against talks. The KLO general secretary’s press statement shows that the rift is widening,” said an intelligence source.

The KLO, formed in the late nineties, had spread its reign of terror in north Bengal and some areas of Lower Assam till around 2003. The outfit went into hibernation following Operation Flushout carried out by the Royal Bhutan Army in 2003. It however, revived in 2012 after some former militants, who were out on bail, rejoined the outfit.

In April last year, KLO had formed its new 15-member central committee comprising Tom, Pradip, Rajiv and others like Malkhan Singh, Tarun Thapa and Nilambar Rajbanshi. All of them are behind bars now. The KLO chief, Jeevan Singh, continues to remain at large and is suspected to be living in Bangladesh.

KLO was held responsible for a bomb blast that killed six persons at Bajrapara near Jalpaiguri on December 26 last year and a firing on a passenger bus in Malda district the next day.

“It seems the central committee has been reduced to five-six members now. However, we cannot afford to be complacent as KLO has links with Bangladesh-based terrorist outfits. Now that the central committee of KLO has diminished, there are chances that KLO leaders like Kailash Koch might try to strengthen their relations with outfits like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh to ensure their existence,” said an intelligence official based in Jalpaiguri.