GUWAHATI, Aug 7 - The ultra attack in Kokrajhar caught the security forces off guard as no one would anticipate such an attack on innocent citizens. Meanwhile, the security forces recently received a disturbing input that the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) managed to push in a few newly trained ultras to Assam from its bases in Myanmar.
Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that there were inputs about the possibility of attacks by the NDFB(S) as the outfit is desperate to make its presence felt. But all the available inputs suggested that the outfit would try to hit the police and security forces and a few such instructions given to the cadres of the outfit were also intercepted. Moreover, no one anticipated that the militant group would target civilians as it suffered a major setback after targeting innocent civilians in December, 2004.
Sources said that it was more like a �lone wolf attack� by the commander of the 16th battalion of the outfit, Monjoy Islary alias Mwadan, who was later killed by the security forces. Though the parents of Islary have claimed that the slain militant was not their son, the security forces claimed that it was indeed Islary, who planned the attack out of frustration.
Sources said that Islary, who was with the group headed by dreaded militant G Bidai, was isolated from the group during an offensive by the security forces on May 11 and he must have decided to launch the attack on his own without even consulting his colleagues. There have been some inputs and intercepts, which suggested that most of the senior leaders of the outfit were not aware of such an attack, sources added.
Security sources said that the strength of the group headed by Bidai has been dwindling since the full-scale operation was launched against the outfit in December 2014. When the operation was launched, there were around 40 members in the group and now there are only seven to eight members and they are shifting from one place to another along the Assam-Bhutan border areas.
On several occasions, the security forces managed to come very close to them, but it is more like a cat-and-mouse game now.
On the strength of the NDFB(S) inside Assam, sources said that a couple of months back, the outfit only had around 20 members inside the State. But according to available inputs, the outfit managed to push in around 15 to 20 newly trained cadres to the State from its bases in Myanmar. However, the new members were not carrying any weapon and they are mostly used for fund collection. The NDFB(S) also has at least 150 to 200 cadres in the bases in Myanmar, sources added.
