Thirty-one Arakanese and Karen ‘freedom fighters' from Myanmar were released from the Alipore Presidency Correctional Home here on Thursday, having been detained for more than 13 years on the charge of waging war against India.
Three others will be sent to Port Blair soon for clearing their court cases and are expected to be released thereafter. A statement released on behalf of the freed ‘freedom fighters' said 34 persons hailing from Myanmar's Arakan and Karen provinces were arrested by the Indian authorities on February 9, 1998, after an operation in which six of their leaders were killed. The first information report alleged that they were smuggling arms into the north-eastern States through Bangladesh, in an attempt to wage war against India.
