GUWAHATI, Feb 7� Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today stressed the need for strengthening vigil along the border with Myanmar to prevent militants taking shelter in the neighbouring country from sneaking into India. He also called upon the Government of India to ensure that the militant groups like the NSCN (I-M) and NSCN (K) are forced to strictly abide by the ground rules of the cease-fire agreement.
Addressing the meeting of the Chief Ministers on internal security in New Delhi today, Gogoi said that the ULFA, which was on the backfoot for some time, received a major blow when the top leaders of the outfit including its chairman were arrested last year. However, he said that the security forces must not be complacent as there had been efforts by the belligerent factions of the ULFA and NDFB to create disturbance.
Gogoi said that the elusive commander-in-chief of the ULFA, Paresh Baruah reportedly shifted his base from Bangladesh to Myanmar along with a handful of his supporters and was trying to regroup the outfit. He said that vigilance along the border with Myanmar should be increased by advancing the BOPs of the Assam Rifles right up to the border to prevent the militants from sneaking in to launch recruitment drive. He said that the NSCN (K) had been extending logistic support to the ULFA despite signing cease-fire agreement with the Government while, the NSCN (I-M) had been involved in acts of violence in different parts of Assam.
The Chief Minister said that the overall law-and-order situation in the state improved considerably and the level of violence had also come down. He revealed that out of the 584 incidents of insurgency� related violence in 2009, as many as 187 were related to encounters with militants that resulted in the death of 209 militants. The violence� free celebration of Republic Day also proved the improvement of the overall situation, he added. He said that the surrender of weapons by the militants belonging to DHD(J) resulted in considerable improvement of the situation in NC Hills, while, the KLNLF, which already declared a unilateral cease-fire, would formally surrender arms soon.
Gogoi said that the anti-talk faction of the NDFB was trying to establish footholds in Arunachal Pradesh and the leader of the group, Ranjan Daimary, presently in Bangladesh, was receiving help from forces inimical to India. He said that the Left, wing extremism failed to establish roots in Assam because of timely action by the police.
The Chief Minister admitted that underdevelopment was one of the main causes of insurgency and said that the Government had identified 1152 remote underdeveloped villages in 20 districts of the state to launch special development schemes. He said terrorism should be countered through development and by creating employment opportunities.
Giving an account of the steps taken to strengthen the police force, Gogoi said efforts had been made to fill up the vacancies in the force and to create new posts. At present the force has more than 8,000 vacancies. He said that quick reaction teams had been created in all districts including two for Guwahati city and a decision had been taken to create a separate cadre for the special branch of the Assam Police.
