GUWAHATI, Nov 12 ? The eastern districts of Meghalaya are fast becoming a major base of the secessionist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to launch operations against the security forces and civilian targets in Assam. This development has forced the security agencies to put on their thinking caps to try and nip trouble in the bud.
Security sources here disclosed that the accounts given some the recently apprehended ULFA militants indicates that the outfit has decided to take advantage of the lax security cover in the northern fringes of Meghalaya in the Khasi Hills districts to set up encampments for its cadres. If things go well, the militants are planning to convert them into permanent camps. Ri Bhoi district, bordering Assam, has become the favourite hunting ground of the militants.
According to the sources, the ULFA had, till some time ago, confined its camps to the three Garo Hills districts while avoiding Khasi Hills. The reason behind this was its close association with the Garo extremist outfit Achik National Volunteer council (ANVC). The Garo militant group had for long provided logistical support to the Assam militants in exchange for arms and training facilities in Bangladesh.
But the happy times in the Garo Hills have not lasted long. On the one hand, the security agencies have been carrying out a sustained campaign against militant elements all over the Garo Hills districts, targeting the ANVC, ULFA and NDFB. The East, West and South Garo Hills districts are not considered safe by the ULFA any more. The peace initiative of the ANVC worsened things as far as the ULFA is concerned.
This is where the Khasi Hills have come into the picture. According to the sources, unlike in the Garo Hills, there is very little activism on the part of the security forces here. Large stretches of the area, particularly in Ri Bhoi and West Khasi Hills districts, provide ideal surroundings for the ULFA to set up camps. The Khasi offers similar, if not better, facilities for the militants to move in and out of Bangladesh where all its important establishments are located.
The sources said that the Khasi militant outfit, Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), has been befriended by the ULFA to provide material support to its cadres. In exchange, the Khasi group is being given shelter and training by the ULFA in its Bangladesh camps. The sources said that the chairman of HNLC Julius Dorphang is a regular visitor in the ULFA camps there. The ULFA?s camps in Kurigram, Mymensing, Moulvi Bazar, Habibganj and Sylhet are easier to access from the Khasi Hills than anywhere else, they said.
The ULFA?s thinking, the sources said, is that having camps in Ri Bhoi would give the militants the opportunity to practice their hit and run tactics closer to the centre of power in Assam. This Meghalaya district is the closest to Guwahati. The ULFA is desperate to launch a major attack in Guwahati after having already carried out attacks in other parts of the state. The sources said that a good number of ULFA cadres have already been assembled in Ri Bhoi. They, however, did not specify on the numbers or the exact locations of the camps.