NEW DELHI, Dec 29: The Royal Government of Bhutan is still undecided about handing over the bodies of the militants who were killed in operations in the country. Highly placed sources said that they are still continuing with the operations, which are spread out in remote areas in districts spread all over the country. The issue of handing over the bodies of the slain militants is yet to be worked out, sources said. The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) is also yet to come out with the death toll among the militants. Initial reports pouring in from the country suggest that at least 70 militants were killed in the operations that entered 15th day today.
However, there were conflicting reports over the death toll as a number of militants who were feared killed in action later surfaced. Bhim Kanta Buragohain?s case was a pioneer in that direction. He was reported to have sustained serious injuries in the first day of action and later succumbed. Officials in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), when asked about it, said that India is yet to take up the case of the slain militants. ?As of now we have only requested the Royal Government of Bhutan to take care of the women and children, some of whom have since been handed over in batches after the screening process.?
The ULFA leadership in particular has been calling for handing over of the dead militants to their families. It has become an emotional issue for families of ULFA members. The MHA officials said that it is suspected that at least 45-50 ULFA cadres were killed in action. It may be mentioned here that the Royal Government had so far been refusing the assistance of the International Red Cross Society, which tried to intervene following a plea, by the rebel outfits.
?It may take sometime before we get a clear picture because most of the ULFA and NDFB cadres fled the camps after the attacks and were either hiding in deep jungles or have made their way to Assam,? sources said, adding that the RBA has fanned out trying to flush them out from their hideouts.The RBA is reported to have faced fortified camps and some 3000-odd heavily armed militants. The RBA have confirmed that the ULFA had 14 camps, including 10 in Sandrup Jongkhar district, three in Sarpang district and one in lower Zhemgang. The NDFB had 11 camps, including four in Sarpang and seven in Sandrup Jongkhar. The KLO had one camp in Sandrup Jongkhar, one in Kalikhola Dungkhag and three in Samtse district.
Meanwhile, sources said investigation have revealed that some of the women who were earlier presumed to be family members of the cadres have turned out to be full-time cadres. The Centre has since asked Assam Government to book them under the relevant Acts and not to include them under amnesty scheme. At least 37 women cadres were among the first lot of 64 people handed over to Indian authorities at Tamulpur from Bhutan camps on December 24. They were later remanded to 48 hours police custody by Nalbari Chief Judicial Magistrate. The 27 children, accompanying them, were allowed to either remain with their mothers or were sent to live with their relatives.