Somewhere along the Assam-Meghalaya border, April 20: The Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) has accused the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) of floating an associate outfit, the Hajong United Liberation Army, to cover up its “misdeeds” in Meghalaya.
ANVC general secretary Wanding K. Marak told a group of newspersons here today that his outfit was being blamed for crimes committed by the NDFB with the help of its associate. He pointed out that his organisation had been wrongly accused of abducting customs official Dipak Mahanta and six others from Mahendraganj last month. “It was the NDFB’s handiwork and not ours, as had been alleged.”
Both the NDFB and the ANVC are on the Centre’s list of banned organisations, but Marak claimed his outfit was keen on starting a dialogue with the Centre while its rival was not.
The militant leader said the NDFB’s “illegal activities” had forced his outfit to serve a “quit notice” on it. “The Bodo organisation’s misdeeds in the Garo hills have affected the prospects of a dialogue between us and the Centre. All NDFB members have been asked to leave our area.”
On why the ANVC initially had not objected to the NDFB entering the Garo hills, Marak said his organisation misread its intentions. “We did not make an issue out of it because we considered the NDFB to be a revolutionary organisation.”
Meghalaya police have launched a search for some top NDFB leaders who are believed to be hiding in Shillong. Sources said the Bodo outfit was looking for new hideouts in the Khasi hills and Ri-Bhoi because of its changed relationship with the ANVC.
Revealing the modus operandi of the NDFB, the ANVC leader said the Bodo militant outfit had been using members of the Hajong United Liberation Army and Garo recruits for abductions and extortion.
“The involvement of Hajong and misguided Garo youths in these activities has misled the people into believing that the ANVC is the mastermind of all abductions or extortion in the Garo hills. We have never been involved in such misdeeds.”
However, Marak did not criticise the Ulfa, which is said to have established an extensive network in Meghalaya. The rebel leader denied that the Ulfa had set up camps in the Garo hills despite the police recently unearthing a huge cache of arms and ammunition stockpiled by the outfit.
“Ulfa members temporarily take shelter in the Garo hills. They have not set up any camps in these areas,” Marak said.