NEW DELHI, April 29 � The Centre today reiterated that the Naxals are trying to set up bases in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and indulging in massive propaganda against construction of mega dams.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, in a written reply to a question by Anand Sharma in the Rajya Sabha, said that the CPI (Maoist) is also trying to establish organisational bases in the North-east to forge relations with other insurgent groups to meet its military requirements.
In this regard, the CPI (Maoist) has developed close fraternal ties with North-east insurgent groups like the Revolutionary People�s Front (RPF) and People�s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur. Both the outfits have agreed upon mutual cooperation in the areas of training, funding and supply of arms and ammunition, he said.
The upper Assam leading committee (UALC) of the CPI (Maoist) is currently operating in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and has been involved in incidents of looting of weapons and extortion from local villagers. The UALC has also been engaged in recruitment and training of cadres for the outfit in Assam. These cadres have been utilised in extensive propaganda against mega dams in Assam.
In this backdrop, the Assam-Arunachal border has emerged as another theatre of Maoist activities. The outfit is also establishing separate channels in the North-east, particularly in Nagaland for procurement of ammunition, the minister said.
Meanwhile, in a separate reply to a question on whether insurgent groups were trying to forge links with China, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said there are reports that various insurgent groups operating in the north-eastern states procure arms and sophisticated weapons from Sino-Myanmar border towns and South-East Asia.
�No direct Chinese involvement has been reported. The activities of such underground militant/insurgent groups are kept under close vigil in order to counter unlawful activities of these groups,� he said.
