Bhutan to check Army vehicles

GUWAHATI, July 16: After intensifying the presence of the Army on the international border with Assam, the National Assembly of Bhutan has directed its security forces to check the General Engineering and Reserve Force and Army vehicles passing through the national highways of Bhutan, especially near the areas where the militants had their camps. Suspecting that drivers of these trucks operating for the GREF and Indian Army are also hand-in-glove with the militants, the National Assembly passed this resolution during its current session. The resolution, which was also published in Royal Bhutan government's news bulletin Kuensel, has charged that some GREF and Army drivers were suspected of carrying rations and supplies for Bodo and ULFA militants. The proposal was introduced to start a system of checking GREF and Army vehicles in Bhutan. "It is noted that GREF trucks and many military trucks pass through checkpoints without being checked," a report in the news bulletin published on Saturday said. "It is possible that some of the drivers of the GREF and Army vehicles are carrying supplies for the militants." The members of the Bhutan's Assembly felt that it had become necessary to check Indian Army vehicles at checkpoints because of the implications on the peace and security in the kingdom, if such vehicles carried ration supplies for the ULFA and Bodo militants. Acknowledging the contribution of GREF to their kingdom, members of the National Assembly of Bhutan pointed out that the checkpoints at Phuentsholing had reported that their greatest problems came from not being allowed to check GREF and Army vehicles because non-nationals were reported to have been travelling to and from Phuentsholing in these vehicles. This problem has been compounded by the tendency of the illegal workers to flock to Dantak camps whenever immigration officials set out to check work sites, the Kuensel report added. Meanwhile, armed Bodo militants assaulted several policemen in the Bhangtar sub-division of Samdrup Jongkhar in Bhutan last week after surrounding them and firing shots into the air. In view of such sporadic incidents the Bhutan government has decided strengthen the presence of the police force in the area. The work for the construction of the Royal Bhutan Army camp in Bhangtar is in progress. Sources indicated that RBA troops would move in to strengthen security in the area as soon as it is completed.