Assam violence: Sushma seeks Bhutan, Burma help to hunt down militants
New Delhi: The Centre has given a green signal to the Indian Army to intensify its operations against the NDFB(S) militants, who carried out the massacre of scores of tribals in Assam earlier this week.
In a major step to flush out the outfit’s top leadership, the Centre has also decided to hike the reward on the militant group’s top leadership to elicit more information about their locations and flush them out.
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At present, there is a reward of Rs 5 lakhs each on their heads, which will be raised four-fold to Rs 20 lakhs and Rs 15 lakhs in case of their commander in chief.
On Friday, Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag met Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, after which he said the Army will intensify its operations against the NDFB militants.
As of now 66 columns have been deployed and the Army is planning to augment force level in its counter-insurgency grid if the need arises.
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He added that 66 columns of the Army were deployed in the area. “More troops can be sent if required,” an Army source said. There are about 80 soldiers in each column.
The Centre also rolled out its diplomatic initiative with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj speaking to the Bhutanese leadership, where India is understood to have taken them on board to tackle the insurgent group. India is also in touch with Burma as the rebels usually flee into these two countries if challenged by the Indian security forces.
