Insurgency / Northeast

DHAKA, April 2 – Bangladesh has virtually ruled out the possibility of extradition of jailed ULFA leader Anup Chetia saying the government cannot intervene in judicial matters, reports PTI. Foreign Minister Mohammed Morshed Khan told reporters here on Wednesday that "the government can't intervene in the matter as the case pertaining to Chetia is in the court." An NGO run by Sigma Huda, wife of Bangladesh's powerful Communication Minister Nazmul Huda, has moved the court pleading against Chetia's extradition and seeking political asylum for him in Bangladesh. The government is yet to take...

NEW DELHI, March 31 — On a day when Assam Government’s amnesty offer to fleeing militants from Bhutan expired, North East Coordination Committee on Human Rights (NECOHR), an apex body of human rights organisations, called on the Royal Government of Bhutan to publish the names of all those killed, detained and handed over to the Government of India. The bone of contention is the whereabouts of at least 19 cadres of outlawed ULFA and NDFB, who are traceless. The cadres reported to have been captured during the ongoing operation in the Himalayan Kingdom were not to be heard again, provoking deep...

Shillong, Feb. 26: A Meghalaya customs official, released from militant custody recently, has provided police with valuable information on links between rebels of the Northeast and Bangladesh army personnel.

L.H. Faihrem, who was released by the banned Achik National Volunteers? Council (ANVC) and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) on February 19 after months in captivity, said during interrogation that the militants had kept him in a hideout in Bangladesh, senior police officials said.

A senior police official, in charge of investigating the case, said Faihrem had also...

Shillong, Feb. 20: Buoyed by the success of the Bhutan flushout, the governors and chief ministers of the Northeast today decided to urge New Delhi to put pressure on Bangladesh and Myanmar for similar offensives.

Seven governors and five chief ministers of the region today passed a resolution at the 49th annual meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here to submit a memorandum to the Centre asking it to exert diplomatic pressure on Dhaka and Yangon to dismantle the militant camps and seal the escape routes.

?The memorandum will be submitted to the home ministry and we hope it yields...

Aizawl, Feb. 12: The 1st Assam Rifles (Lushai Hills) battalion has found a champion in the state branch of the Public Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), in face of the home ministry threat to pull it out of Mizoram.

In a letter to deputy chief minister L.K. Advani, who holds the home portfolio, the PUCL outlined the battalion?s history and said it was the true symbol of nationhood to the Mizo people.

Explaining the role of Laldenga, the late founder of the Mizo National Front (MNF), in the steps taken towards the removal of the 1st Assam Rifles from the state, the PUCL said Laldenga had taken...

New Delhi, Feb. 8: Back from another peacemaking mission to Bangkok, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga said leaders of as many as three militant groups of the Northeast were expected to visit New Delhi within a month to begin negotiations with the Centre.

The militant leader-turned-politician met leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) and a couple of other groups during his visit to the Thailand capital. He undertook the mission at the behest of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Zoramthanga said he held ?extensive? discussions with the NSCN (I-M) leadership on...

NEW DELHI, Feb 4 ? China has denied receiving any request from outlawed ULFA for safe passage even as India got in touch with China to checkmate the rebel outfit, Minister of State for External Affairs, Digvijay Singh confirmed here today.

The Minister informed in the Lok Sabha that after media reports regarding a letter addressed to the Chinese Government by ULFA, came to the notice of the Government of India, his Ministry got in touch with the Chinese Embassy here The ULFA had sought safe passage through Chinese territory for members of insurgent groups seeking to escape the armed...

AIZAWL, Feb 2 ? The 10th round of talks between the Mizoram Government and the Tripura-based underground Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) might run into rough weather even as both the sides expressed optimism that they would settle the Bru problem this time around.

An official, who is involved in the negotiations, told PTI on condition of anonymity that the State Government was having serious doubts that the agreement to be made with the BNLF would end the Bru insurgency against Mizoram.

?We doubt that the BNLF would be able to rein in Bru underground splinter groups like tha Bru National...

SHILLONG, Jan 31 ? Cadres of the banned militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of Meghalaya are trained in different camps in Bangladesh and have close links with a Khasia association of the neighbouring country, a senior police official said here today, reports PTI.

?They (HNLC) have their training camps at the Chittagong hill tracts and also got some safe houses at places like Srimangal, Maulavi bazar and Pannai,? Superintendent of Police in East Khasi Hills district, A S Rynjah, told reporters. At least 15-20 HNLC cadres were trained in each camp before they were...

GUWAHATI, Jan 31: Growing links between the militant outfits of the North Eastern region and Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) backed Kashmiri militant outfits is causing concern among the security agencies and recently the security agencies have come across links between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and Jamait Ul Mujaheedin (JUM), a Pakistan Occupied Kashmir based militant outfit.

Highly placed security sources said that the links between the ULFA and the JUM came to light after the seizure of huge number of AK 47 ammunition in Kolkata, following which, two ULFA...