GUWAHATI, July 30 (IANS) - Six militants of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), including the outfit's publicity chief, were arrested Friday in separate raids in Guwahati, officials said.
A police spokesperson said the six arrests were made during an operation by security forces on different rented accommodations in Guwahati.
"NDFB's publicity chief B Barbhai and the outfit's women's wing leader Sharmistha Brahma were among the six arrested during separate raids," Longnit Terang, additional police superintendent of Guwahati city, said.
"All of them were staying in different rented accommodations masquerading as students."
Barbhai was mainly responsible for sending e-mail statements to media houses in Assam, besides acting as NDFB's main liaison person in Guwahati.
"I was staying in a rented house and used some e-mail IDs to send press statements to newspapers and TV channels under instructions from our leadership," Barbhai told journalists while in police custody.
Sharmistha, on the other hand, is a Bangladesh-trained rebel and was instrumental in ferrying explosives to the city for terror attacks.
Police claim the arrests are a major setback for the NDFB.
"The other four arrested rebels are trained cadres," another police official said.
