Assam Governor Janaki Ballav Patnaik on Tuesday said Maoists were the latest insurgent elements to have “silently intruded” into the region and established strong links with the anti-talk faction of ULFA led by Paresh Barua and the People’s Liberation Army of Manipur.
Delivering the valedictory address on the concluding day of the two-day 21st conference of DGPs and IGPs of the North Eastern region at the Raj Bhavan, Mr. Patnaik expressed concern over the fact that the Maoists had formed regional committees for upper, central and lower Assam.
“They (Maoists) are mostly active in areas of Dhemaji, and Tinsukia districts bordering lower Dibang and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh with the geographical location of the area contributing to the proliferation of their activities,” he said.
“There is ample evidence of the Maoists sending their cadres to Odisha and Jharkhand to undergo training under the hardcore Maoist leadership there,” he said.
“I understand Paresh Barua group of ULFA is in constant negotiation with them and is willing to provide both sophisticated arms and requisite funds,” he said.
Referring to another area of concern, Mr. Patnaik said the surrendered militants of Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), ULFA and the NDFB were indulging in petty crimes like snatching and kidnapping.
“As you know, once the Maoists or the Naxals establish a base in any one part of the country, they quickly spread their tentacles to the rest of the area in no time,” Mr. Patnaik said.
“This is what has happened both in Odisha and Chhattisgarh and the danger signal in North East has to be taken seriously. Immediate steps have to be taken to bring the isolated areas suffering from decades of neglect by the administration to the mainstream of development so that they would be denied easy recruitment,” he said.
On the ULFA’s anti-talk faction, the Governor said their leader Paresh Barua was said to have found shelter near China-Myanmar border in the Yunan province of China.
The conference adopted a resolution underscoring the need to combat in a coordinated manner the “strategic and tactical” understanding between the Maoists and the PLA and ULFA.
Assam chief secretary Naba Kumar Das, special director of intelligence (IB) R N Ravi said during the inauguration this was a vital area and “the security forces have to be careful”.
While Assam DGP Shankar Barua said the Maoists had of late posed a threat to the State’s security and the police was ready to face their challenge.
