New Delhi, June 13: The activities of a little known insurgent outfit have raised the hackles of the Arunachal Pradesh government. The Centre has been apprised and requested to provide assistance to rein in the rebels.
Government sources allege that the Arunachal Dragon Force, which emerged about three years ago, has spread its network and is trying to forge a link between the Northeast insurgent groups and foreign agencies.
?This organisation has been seeking for a long time to establish a link between the various insurgent groups in the region and China. We have definite information on this and have also brought the matter to the notice of the Centre,? said government spokesman and education minister Takam Sanjay.
As proof of China?s ?intentions?, Sanjay cited some examples. ?A highway has been constructed along the Line of Actual Control. Last year, a Chinese national who crossed over to Arunachal, was arrested and kept at Anini jail but later shifted to Delhi. There are other instances to prove our contention.? He identified certain factors, which could possibly spur the Dragon Force into action resulting in serious law and order problems for the state.
?Being densely forested, Arunachal could be an ideal place for militants to hide and hence, the need to rope in other outfits as their allies. This could be a real possibility with the situation in Bhutan now poised for a change.?
The Mukut Mithi government, the spokesman said, has demanded the deployment of Central forces in certain sensitive districts where insurgent activity has reached its peak. ?This was first demanded by Gegong Apang and have been repeated at regular intervals. But the Centre is yet to wake up to the danger and initiate remedies,? he said.
Led by Chaw Nawmee Namsoon, the Dragon Force has recruits drawn mainly from the Khamti, Tsingpho and Tangsa tribes of Lohit.
One of its objectives was to resist the domination of the Adis who have by and large been the greatest beneficiaries of development in the state.
The current strength of the outfit is estimated to be only about 60 but its USP lies in its familiarity with the adjacent districts of Upper Dibang Valley, Tirap and Changlang and the routes to China and Myanmar. No doubt, several groups like the NSCN factions and the Ulfa have vied to act jointly with the Dragon Force and some of its cadre have also supposedly undergone training in Bhutan.
Sources in the home ministry, however, dismiss the China threat as nothing more than a ploy by politicians to further their own interests and attract attention.