GUWAHATI, Dec 21 - Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba will review the security scenario in the State tomorrow and review the progress of updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as well as the possible fallout of the publication of the first draft of the citizenship document. The visit of the Union Home Secretary, his first since after assuming office, assumes significance as the militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) have stepped up their activities in upper Assam in recent times, while, there have been apprehensions of law and order problems in certain pockets of the State after the publication of the first draft of the NRC.
Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the Union Home Secretary has been visiting the troubled areas of the country since assuming office. He had visited Arunachal Pradesh early this month to take stock of the situation in three districts of the State because of movement of militants through the districts from their bases in Myanmar.
Sources said that the Union Home Secretary, along with the Registrar General of India and the Joint Secretary (North East) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) would hold a meeting with the officials engaged with the process of updating the NRC to review the progress of the work and the possible fallout of the publication of the draft of the NRC tomorrow.
The Union Home Secretary will also attend a meeting of the strategy group of the Unified Command to review the overall security scenario of the State. The strategy group meeting assumes significance as in recent times, the ULFA(I) militants have stepped up their activities in the Upper Assam areas, particularly in the areas bordering Arunachal Pradesh. The meeting, which will be attended by the senior officers of the State Government, police officers and officials of the forces engaged in the counter insurgency operations, is likely to formulate strategies to deal with the recent activities of the ultras. The police chiefs of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya are special invitees to the meeting of the strategy group.
It may be mentioned here that the Central Government has already deployed 50 additional companies of Central paramilitary forces for NRC updating process and to deal with possible fallout. The Centre may take a decision on meeting the State�s demand for more forces after the strategy group meeting tomorrow.
The Union Home Secretary will also meet Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who is also in charge of the Home Department to discuss the situation in the State.
Meanwhile, commenting on the recent activities of the ultras, sources said that the militant groups are facing severe financial crisis and that�s why they are trying their best to make presence felt to force people to pay. However, the activities of the ULFA(I) are limited to the areas bordering Arunachal Pradesh , particularly in Tinsukia district. The militants have been sending demands to a substantial number of businessmen including tea gardens and as most of them refused to pay the demanded amount, the militants are trying to indulge in acts of violence to create a fear psychosis. The militants belonging to the ULFA(I) are trying to push in its members through Arunachal Pradesh and they are taking advantage of the terrain of the area.
Sources also said that the NDFB(S) is also trying to push in its members through Mon district of Nagaland, particularly to the districts of Chirang, Kokrajhar and Sonitpur. In recent times, two of the members of the outfit were killed and 13 others were arrested by police and security forces.