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NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary held

By Staff Reporter - 15 Sep 2010 12:00 AM GMT

GUWAHATI, May 1 � The anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) today suffered a major setback as the chairman of the outfit Ranjan Daimary alias DR Nabla has been handed over to Indian security forces by Bangladesh and subsequently he was handed over to Assam Police. Daimary is the prime accused in the serial blasts on October 30, which killed more than 90 people.

Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that Daimary, who was staying in Bangladesh for a long time, was picked up by the security agencies of the neighbouring country a few days back. Initially, Bangladesh was planning to put the militant leader in jail but after hectic talks between New Delhi and Dhaka, Bangladesh agreed to hand him over.

Sources said that the NDFB anti-talk faction chief was handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) near the international border in Dowki in the wee hours today and was later handed over to Assam Police to be brought to the city. Interestingly, the Assam Police is very tight lipped about the arrest of Daimary and none of the senior officers was ready to make a public statement on the arrest.

Though the area where Daimary was arrested in Bangladesh is yet to be ascertained, it is believed that he was picked up in the Sherpur area where the NDFB has its bases. Sources said that the NDFB has strong bases in the Sherpur area from where most of the operations were masterminded and Indian security agencies gave pinpointed information to Bangladesh about the bases of the NDFB.

Security sources said that the anti-talk faction of the NDFB has around 150 cadres and around 50 of them are still in Bangladesh. Sources revealed that several batches of NDFB cadres were trained in Bangladesh in recent years.

Though Ranjan Daimary was the chairman of the NDFB when the outfit signed a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India in 2005, he did not sign the agreement on behalf of the outfit and during several rounds of talks on the cease-fire also, he did not come to India to represent the outfit. The division in the ranks of the NDFB came out in the open only after the involvement of Daimary and his supporters in the serial blasts on October 30, 2008 became known and the outfit was formally divided into pro talk and anti talk factions.

The anti-talk faction of the NDFB suffered severe setbacks in the last one year as the security forces achieved major successes in the operations against the outfit. But members of the outfit are still active in areas bordering Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh and are indulging in extortions and kidnappings.

Ranjan Daimary formed the Boro Security Force in 1986 and the outfit was later renamed as NDFB. The outfit gradually turned out to be one of the most dreaded of the militant groups in the state and it always maintained close ties with the ULFA. However, the NDFB was the worst sufferer in the �Operation All Clear� launched by Bhutan in 2003, following which, the outfit signed a ceasefire pact with the Government in 2005. However, Ranjan Daimary later walked out of the ceasefire pact and constituted the anti talk faction of the NDFB.

Meanwhile, commenting on the arrest of Daimary, former state DGP GM Srivastava said that it was a major success. He said that the NDFB has been �finished� after the arrest of Daimary.