The Army, the Assam Rifles and other security forces have made elaborate arrangements to check the influx of militants of the North-East into the border States of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh after the expiry of the June 10 deadline set by the Myanmarese government for closing down camps. This was disclosed by Major General U.K. Gurung, the Inspector General of Assam Rifles (South), during an informal chat with journalists on Sunday at Pallel in Thoubal district.
Maj. Gen. Gurung said additional troops had been deployed along the 360 km-long Manipur-Myanmar border to check infiltration. The Assam Rifles, which is trained in counter-insurgency, had replaced the Border Security Force along the border. A 10-km-long border fence was erected at Moreh. The border trade had already been legalised. There have been reports of arrests, killings of militants, seizures of drugs and illegal weapons.
Assurance to Manmohan
During the recent visit to Myanmar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was assured that militant camps would be shut down and the insurgents asked to leave by June 10. Authorities said military action would be launched after the deadline.
There are some big question marks over this new anti-insurgency policy.
Soon after the terror attack in the U.S., the Myanmarese military had arrested 198 hardcore leaders of several underground organisations of north-east India.
Official sources said India had approached the military junta through diplomatic channels to allow the country's intelligence officials to be present during the interrogation.
It was reported that there was no response. Instead all the rebels were set free after one month.
