NEW DELHI, Jan 18 � In a significant seizure, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition belonging to the NDFB(S) faction.
Official sources said that on the intervening night of January 17 and 18, an NIA team, in a joint operation with the Assam Police and the Army, recovered two AK-56 rifles, one HK-33 rifle, two HE grenades, one M20 pistol, three M20 rounds, one round of M16 rifle, 123 5.56-mm rounds, 223 AK rounds, five AK magazines, two HK magazines, and three ammunition pouches, from the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border area. Certain incriminating documents were also recovered in the search operation, sources said.
The recovery was made on the basis of a disclosure made by arrested accused � Ajoi Basumatary alias B Bahum (32 years), who is the self-styled commander of the Third Battalion of NDFB(S), sources added.
It was under his direction and leadership that the recent killings took place in Sonitpur district on December 23 last, in which over 80 people, including women and children, were killed and six persons injured.
B Buhum, along with two others, was arrested in Kohima on January 4 and seven mobile phones and documents that throw substantial light on the leadership of NDFB (S) were seized from their possession. The two others were identified as Dilip Basumatary alias Bir Baisa alias Lambu, a self-styled forest secretary, and Khamrei Basumatary alias Udla, self-styled commander of the 14th Battalion of the NDFB(S).
