Kohima/Dimapur, July 9: Army units ringed the NSCN (Isak-Muivah)?s ?Camp Hebron? at Nagaland?s Intangki reserve forest, adjoining Karbi Anglong in Assam, after Delhi took cognisance of the Tarun Gogoi?s complaint about the militant group?s activities along the inter-state border.
An extra assistant commissioner of Assam, Dipankar Das, and a constable were killed by suspected NSCN (I-M) members during a campaign to evict illegal Naga settlers from Dhansiri forest of Karbi Anglong district. The incident occurred on July 1.
The NSCN (I-M) camp is across the river Dhansiri, and only a few hundred yards from the spot where Das was killed.
Several army units under the command of the 3 and 4 Corps fanned out around the NSCN (I-M) council headquarters in the wee hours of yesterday. Army sources, however, clarified that the units were positioned well beyond the imaginary ring from the designated camp to avoid being accused of breaking the ground rules of the militant group?s ceasefire with Delhi.
An unauthorised checkpoint set up by the NSCN (I-M) was destroyed by the advancing troops. A defence source said it was the second such checkpoint to be removed.
After the skirmish on July 1, Ceasefire Monitoring Group chairperson Lt Gen. (retd) R.V. Kulkarni asked the NSCN (I-M) to dismantle an unauthorised camp close to its council headquarters.
Officials at the 3 Corps base at Rangapahar, near Dimapur, and the 4 Corps headquarters in Tezpur town of Assam dismissed talk of the army having altered its post-ceasefire deployment in Nagaland in a radical fashion.
A highly-placed defence source, however, said the NSCN (I-M) council headquarters could be considered an illegal camp because of its location.
He said the government had erred in allowing the militant group to set up its camp in a reserve forest. ?Going by the Supreme Court?s directive, it is illegal to allow any human habitation or activity in a reserve forest.?
The source said the NSCN (I-M) could be asked to relocate its council headquarters ?deep inside Nagaland? to discount the possibility of a clash with Assam.
The NSCN (I-M) is being accused of violating the ground rules of the ceasefire by setting up a string of unauthorised training and base camps between its council headquarters, near Munglamukh, and its general headquarters at Punglwa.
The militant group reacted to the allegations with typical aggression. Describing the army?s statements as ?provocative?, NSCN (I-M) deputy kilonser (minister) K. Chawang said Delhi was intimidating his organisation in ?blatant violation? of the ceasefire.
He accused the army of ?once again collaborating? with the rival NSCN (Khaplang) to undermine the Isak-Muivah group?s importance.
Chawang said some senior Congress leaders were harming the peace process.