Army fans out in Bodo heartland Sushma taps Bhutan, Myanmar - Go after the NDFB leadership: Rajnath

TT, New Delhi, Dec. 26: The army is set to deploy more troops in lower Assam where simmering tension between the Bodos and Adivasis, following Tuesday's massacre by NDFB (Songbijit), is threatening to escalate. The toll in the attacks, protests and backlash has mounted to 76.

"We will intensify operations," army chief Gen. Dalbir Singh said after a meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh. The army is already deployed in the zone for more than 15 years now, mainly in the area of responsibility of its 11 Brigade, headquartered in Kokrajhar.

Official sources said tonight that the army chief was likely to review the operations at the 4 Corps headquarters in Tezpur in Assam.

Sources in the home ministry said Rajnath Singh had told Gen. Singh that the troops should go after NDFB (Songbijit) leadership and that the Centre would request the governments of Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh to aid in the operations.

Government officials said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has spoken to Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and was trying to speak to her Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin.

"I can confirm that the external affairs minister has spoken to the Bhutanese leadership at the highest levels for assistance in battling this scourge. This is because we have leads that some of those supporting the violence may have crossed over into that country's territory," foreign office spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

Key members of the NDFB (S) leadership and their financiers are said to have slipped across the country's borders and many of them are hiding in Myanmar.

India will also seek help from Bangladesh if it gathers evidence that militants have entered that country. "This is a difficult situation and we will not hesitate to take all the help we can to meet this challenge," an official said.

Sources in the army said years of deployment had made its troops familiar with the "deep fissures" and "faultlines" of the ethnic divide. Military operations in such complex social divides often risk tainting the army in political hues, a situation the top brass wants to avoid.

One reading in the army is that the latest round of violence was instigated by the rising rhetoric of village-level leaders for minor gains in local elections.

The army currently has about 2,500 troops in 66 columns in the zone where the violence took place this week. This deployment may be scaled up to about a hundred columns over the next few weeks.

"We will be there to rebuild public confidence," the army chief said, "and give support to the civil administration."

The army was using helicopters for aerial recce of the border areas through which the NDFB (S) insurgents are suspected to have fled.

In Guwahati, the Tarun Gogoi-headed Unified Command structure, the three-tier security set-up that plans and executes operations against militants in the state, met this evening at the residence of the chief minister.

Unified Command members, including the GoC, 4 Corps, the chief secretary and the director-general of police, attended the meeting that dwelt on the operations against militants, including the NDFB (S). Sources said the government was keeping a close watch on the situation.

The meeting discussed challenges like remoteness and inaccessibility of areas, which hinder the movement of security forces. Gogoi instructed the authorities to chalk out a time-bound plan to eliminate the militants. Before the meeting, Gogoi met new PCC president Anjan Dutta.

Sources said security forces were today searching for NDFB (S) hideouts at Balisang, 130km from Tezpur, the headquarters of Sonitpur district. Sources in the army said five NDFB (S) militants have been killed and six arrested in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts since October 1.

Sonitpur superintendent of police Sanjukta Parasar told The Telegraph that operations were under way in the district.There were reports about an encounter at Menoka tea garden in Chirang district along the Indo-Bhutan border.

Sources said the NDFB (S) fired on Sashastra Seema Bal jawans around 4pm when they were on their way to Chirang.

Night curfew continued in Kokrajhar as the situation remained tense in many areas. Lower Assam commissioner Shantanu Thakur today visited the district and held a meeting with administration and security forces officials.

Thakur said the district administration and state government were working together to ensure the people's safety. He said steps to create a congenial atmosphere were being taken and hoped that the situation would normalise.

Kokrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarania today wrote to the chief minister asking for deployment of 25 companies of security forces in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa districts and seizure of illegal arms in the BTAD. He also sought ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the massacre victims.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today flew to Siliguri where she met Adivasis fleeing Assam staying in relief camps in Alipurduar district.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PRANAB KUMAR DAS IN TEZPUR AND our GUWAHATI BUREAU