BENGALURU: The arrest of three suspected Bodo militants by the Central Crime Branch sleuths on Tuesday proves that the city has become a safe haven for members of these separatist outfits.
Based on a tip-off from their Assam counterparts, the officials of the Organised Crime Wing (OCW) of the CCB nabbed Boben Mushai, 43, Jelson Bosemuthorai, 20, and Narswan Narjari, 25, from a makeshift house in Avalahalli on the city outskirts, where they had taken shelter.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Jitendranath said they were part of the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDRB) and used to indulge in criminal activities to provide financial assistance to the outfit.
According to the CCB sleuths, the trio along with their associates, Birmol, Fakhom, Jibon, Ansul Mushai and Manam Basumathari had on February 22 kidnapped for ransom a 16-year-old boy, the son a pig farm owner in Bhutan, and his assistant from Bhutan.
The gang took the victims to the Chirang forest area in Indo-Bhutan border and tortured them in captivity for five days. The accused released the duo after getting a ransom of Rs 20 lakh from the boy’s father and the money was handed over to the militant outfit.
While the Assam police based arrested five of them, the trio managed to escape and came to the city last week and started working as agriculture workers in Avalahalli, Jitendranath said. The accused were handed over to the Assam police for further investigations, he added.
This is not the first time the city police have arrested suspected Bodo militants from the city. At least six of them were nabbed from the city since last year, who had taken shelter and were working as labourers with fake identities, he pointed out.
In June 2015, the officials of the Internal Security Division (ISD) have arrested Sandan Basumatri, Naseen Basumatri, Jibal Nursey and Tomar Basumatri associated with Democractic Font of Bodoland, who are on the run for the past one year and had taken shelter in the city.
