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India-Pakistan

Banned DeM operates freely in Kashmir

2017-06-10

[THENORTHLINES] SRINAGAR: Dukhtaran-e-Milat led by Asiya Andrabi figures among the 36 bully boy groups in the banned list, framed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Despite being banned, the group is operating in the valley and also running the office. The NIA last Saturday raided houses of several Hurriyat leaders in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the valley. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... none from the separatist camp except the DeM figures in the banned list of 36 organizations by the NIA for carrying out "unlawful activities". In its official website, the NIA has put the DeM led by Asiya Andrabi under "Schedule I ‐ First Schedule (of the UA (P) Act, 1967) Terrorist Organisations". According to the Act, "Any association can be declared unlawful if the central government is of the opinion that any association is, or has become an unlawful, it may by notification in the official gazette declare such association to be unlawful". DeM is an all women outfit, was founded in 1987, and has been advocating to separate J&K from India. It chief Asiya Andrabi was tossed in the calaboose Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! from her Soura residence on April 27, and booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA). The grounds of PSA order prepared by the police call Asiya a "diehard secessionist" whose "endeavour is to secede the state of J&K from union of India and in order to achieve it she has indulged in anti-national activities and has played an important role in 2008 Amarnath agitation and also in 2010 and 2016 summer unrest by announcing programs/rallies with secessionist elements". In the NIA’s banned list, there are some of the bully boy groups who have or are operating in the valley like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen/ Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment, Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... /Tahrik-e-Furqan, Jammu and Kashmire Islamic Front, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen/Harkat-ul-Ansar/Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami and Lashkar-E-Taiba/Pasban-E-Ahle Hadis. Besides that there are groups like Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Commando Force, Khalistan Zindabad Force, International Sikh Youth Federation, al-Umar-Mujahideen, United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in Assam, People’s Liberation Army (PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL), Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF), All Tripura Tiger Force, National Liberation Front of Tripura, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Students Islamic Movement of India, Deendar Anjuman, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) -People’s War, Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), Al Badr, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, al-Qaeda, Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA), Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT), Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj (ABNES), Communist Party of India (Maoist), Indian Mujahideen A locally recruited auxilliary of Pakistain's Lashkar-e-Taiba, designed to give a domestic patina to Pakistain's terror war against its bigger neighbor... , and Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) which too figures in the banned list.

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Bangladesh

Eight NLFT militants gunned down

2014-12-10

Indian security forces in a joint operation with their Bangladeshi counterparts gunned down eight National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants in Chittagong Hill Tracts of the neighboring country last month. The security forces destroyed many of their hideouts in Khagracherri district of Bangladesh forcing NLFT rebels to flee to nearby Bandarban district. Indian forces along with a Tripura police team and two surrendered rebels, had left for the neighboring country on November 17, to take part in anti-insurgency operations. The combined team of security forces from both countries subsequently launched an operation on November 22 and the next day, they arrested NLFT commander Kwaplai Debbarma, alias Karna, from the house of a former All Tripura Tiger Force commander Jewel Debbarma. Following Debbarma's arrest, 36 militants living in Dighinala fled and took shelter in nearby Keuman in Bandarban district. On November 29, the team launched a fierce assault on NLFT militants holed up in Naraicherra and killed a group of eight rebels led by Rathamoni Koloi.

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Bangladesh

Northeast militants flee Bangla crackdown

2014-12-05

Bangladesh's government has launched a massive drive against rebels from the Northeast, based in the interior of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and a rapid action battalion launched the operation on November 22. As a result, National Liberation Front of Tripura militants have fled the jungles of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. This came to light when BSF jawans this morning arrested NLFT commander Amarjeet Debbarma. High-level sources said they had received information from sources from across the border that in the past 12 days, six hideouts of NLFT, HNLC and NDFB rebels had been destroyed. At least seven suspected NLFT rebels and allegedly one each of HNLC and NDFB militants have been arrested. A senior Special Branch official SAID that the most successful operation had been carried out in the Mandiracherra hideout of Tripura's NLFT on the border areas of Khagracherri and Bandarban districts on November 27 by a joint team of RAB and BGB. Initially, the rebels opened fire on the Bangladesh security forces. The official said, "The Bangladesh security forces retaliated and left a number of NLFT militants dead on the spot, though the number of slain militants has not been ascertained so far. The rest of the militants fled towards Bandarban district and security forces recovered a large quantity of ammunition." Sources said after the operations started on November 22, senior NLFT commander Karna Debbarma was arrested the next morning. Forty other NLFT rebels had been living in rented houses in the Dighinala area and all of them fled after the security operation began. The official said, "According to our report, Karna Debbarma guided the BGB and RAB jawans to five other hideouts of the NLFT at Shilacherri, Mandiracherra, Taglakandai and Naraicherra camps. Senior NLFT commander Rathamoni Debbarma was forced to flee with lieutenants and took shelter in the Kasalong camp. However, this camp, too, was dismantled by Bangladeshi security forces. The fate of Rathamoni and his followers is still not known." Security forces have also been monitoring communication among NLFT militants on wireless. They stumbled upon the voice of senior NLFT commander Atharbabu Halam, one of the assassins of former Speaker Bimal Sinha on March 31, 1998. In the intercepted message, Atharbabu said he was planning to cross over to Myanmar and set up a new base.

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Bangladesh

Tripura rebel leaders held in Bangladesh

2013-01-06

AGARTALA: Security forces in Bangladesh have reportedly arrested two top militants - All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) supremo Ranjit Debbarma and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) chief Biswamohan Debbarma - from Dhaka in December last year. Who? Intelligence officials in Tripura are trying to confirm the arrests of Ranjit and Biswamohan. Police intelligence officials here on Friday said Ranjit was arrested from a posh location in Dhaka on December 30 and Biswamohan on December 23 last from nearby areas. According to reports, they have been living in Dhaka for the past two decades. Their arrest comes mere months after BSF submitted a list of militant hideouts to Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB). Both the militant leaders were apprehended by the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The RAB members, after receiving specific information, surrounded the flats in Dhaka and arrested the militant leaders, a source said. I'm surprised this didn't lead to an 'encounter', but perhaps the Indians wanted these guys really bad and paid to have them delivered alive... The ATTF chief has been heading violent operations from Bangladeshi soil since 1990. "The RAB is trying to locate the organization's arsenal in the country," the source added. It is reported that Ranjit Debbarma has been under a remand since his arrest and is being quizzed by a joint interrogation cell. The group led by Ranjit has been demanding secession of Tripura from India. Militant activities in Tripura are apparently regulated by its leaders who have safe houses in Bangladesh. Ranjit Debbarma is now the chief as the other top leaders of the separatist group are in various jails. Security has been tightened along the Indo-Bangla border to thwart any possible retaliation by ATTF after Ranjit's arrest. NLFT's military wing chiefs - Bishwamohan Debbarma, Nayanbasi Jamatia and Upendra Reang - are still believed to be in Bangladesh. Sources claimed that at least seven Indian militant groups have been active in Bangladesh since 1990. India and Bangladesh have stepped up cooperation in handling crime, militancy and terrorism since PM Sheikh Hasina took office in 2009. The previous Bangla leader wasn't so keen on cross-border anti-terrorism. Wonder why...

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Bangladesh

Arrested Ulfa chief taken to Delhi

2009-12-04

[Bangla Daily Star] Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has been taken to Delhi from Tripura where he surrendered to the security forces, report BBC News and Indian media. Rajkhowa's wife Kaberi Kachari and their two sons were put under house arrest in Dhaka, the media reports add. Indian daily the Hindustan Times reports that the Ulfa chief was pushed back on Wednesday by the Bangladesh authorities into Tripura and later flown to New Delhi yesterday evening. Two other top Ulfa leaders -- Chitrabon Hazarika and Sasha Choudhury -- were detained in Bangladesh last month and subsequently handed over to India, while Ulfa general secretary Anup Chetia is confined in Bangladesh jail since 1998. BBC News Online adds: There are unconfirmed reports that the two other rebel leaders -- chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary and chairman of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Biswamohan Debbarma -- have also been held elsewhere in Bangladesh. India's home ministry has not confirmed the reports of the arrests in Bangladesh. Quoting Indian government sources, the CNN-IBN website says the Centre is considering giving safe passage to Rajkhowa to facilitate the peace talks. It adds Ulfa chairman Rajkhowa and its publicity secretary Apurba Borua were flown into New Delhi in a special flight of the Border Security Force, while Rajkhowa's wife and two sons have also been reportedly kept under house arrest in Uttara in Dhaka. Forty-two bank accounts held by Rajkhowa in a Dhaka bank were frozen in March. The accounts held deposits worth Rs 3,900 crore, most of which was extortion money. Sources say Rajkhowa held the accounts under the name of Arbinda Ray and the accounts were frozen two months after Sheikh Hasina came to power in Bangladesh. Hasina government is also putting pressure on him for talks with India.

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Bangladesh

Ulfa founder held in Dhaka

2009-12-03

[Bangla Daily Star] Arabinda Rajkhowa, chairman and one of the founders of Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), was arrested in Dhaka on Monday, reports BBC Bangla Service. Quoting Indian intelligence agencies, the BBC Kolkata correspondent reports that the Ulfa chief along with three to four other leaders was arrested in Gulshan in the capital. Contacted, the high-ups of Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Detective Branch (DB) and Special Branch (SB) denied such arrest. A report of Indian state-run news agency PTI says: Home Secretary G K Pillai and his Bangladesh counterpart Abdus Sobhan Sikder, who is currently in India, pleaded ignorance about the detention of Rajkhowa. "Because I am away from the country, I do not have such information till now," Sikder told reporters when asked about the development. Pillai said, "We also have no official information of arrest of Arabinda Rajkhowa in Bangladesh or anywhere else". Meanwhile, Indian English dailies the Hindustan Times and the Economic Times report that Ulfa chairman Rajkhowa, its publicity secretary Apurba Baruah and another separatist group National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) chairman Biswamohan Debbarma were also arrested in Bangladesh. Quoting home ministry sources, the Indian media reports say efforts are on to get 53-year-old Ulfa Chairman Rajkhowa deported to India, writes our correspondent in Delhi. According to reports published in the Hindustan Times and the Economic Times, the Ulfa and NLFT leaders were believed to have been arrested by the Special Branch of the Bangladesh police and are likely to be handed over to the Indian authorities along the Indo-Bangla border either in Tripura or in Assam soon. The Ulfa chairman has reportedly been in favour of talks with the central government of India. Talking to The Daily Star, Additional Inspector General of Police NBK Tripura, Rab Director General Hassan Mahmood Khandker, DMP Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque, Special Superintendent Meer Shahidul Islam of CID and SS Mahbubur Rahman of SB said they have no information regarding the arrest of any Ulfa or NLFT leaders. Senior Ulfa leader Anup Chetia has been confined in Bangladesh jail since 1998. According to PTI, with Rajkhowa's detention, Ulfa is now left with only two top leaders, commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and his deputy Raju Barua, who are yet to be arrested. It is believed that Paresh Barua now shuttles among China, Thailand and Malaysia. Rajkhowa is among five people who founded the separatist group on April 7, 1979. Accused in several cases, including that of waging war against India, Rajkhowa has an Interpol Red Corner notice against him. He has been out of India since 1992 and is said to have lived in places like Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan apart from Bangladesh, added PTI.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh deports 11 Indian insurgents

2008-10-21

Bangladesh deported eleven suspected Indian insurgents between June 12 and August 22 this year in an effort to end cross-border terrorism and crimes, an un-named top security official was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency, BSS, on Monday. The agency said this was the first time Bangladesh had revealed handing over alleged terrorists to India despite there being no extradition treaty. The revelation came after repeated accusations by Indian authorities and media that Bangladesh harbours Indian separatists, claims that Dhaka has consistently denied, the agency added. The latest deportation brings to 120 the number of Indian 'criminals and insurgents' arrested by Bangladesh since 2003 and sent back as part of Dhaka's move to 'build confidence' between the two countries, the agency said. The security official also said that 10 'alleged operatives' of India's outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura were killed in an encounter with the elite anti-crime troops as they were infiltrating into Bangladesh's territory. He did not give the exact date and place of the encounter. India has erected a barbed wire fence along more than half of the 4,000km border between the two countries and wants to fence the entire border, which Bangladesh opposes.

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India-Pakistan

'Timers used to explode bombs'

2008-10-02

In recent weeks, there have been reports of Islamic militants using Tripura to enter India from Bangladesh. Reports also said that on September 25, central intelligence agencies had warned north-eastern states of an impending terror attack and Border Security Force officials in Agartala confirmed having received the input. Meanwhile, Army sources from Kolkata suspect that Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh used National Liberation Front of Tripura (Biswamohan) in carrying out the serial explosions . From what the Army has gleaned from its own sources, its officials say the bombs were sophisticated devices. ''Timers had been used in the bombs to carry out the explosions, the way the series of four blasts took place in intervals of five to seven minutes,'' an official said. There were pellets inside the bombs to enhance the effects. ''Many of the injured have pellets embedded deep inside their bodies. That's why it is feared that the death toll may go up.'' Another army source said one of the unexploded bombs found at the Motor Stand had been kept in a tiffin box. As a safety measure, the police exploded it before the arrival of forensic experts. The forensic would now go into the details of the nature of the explosives.

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India-Pakistan

Assam: Militant outfit hangs it up

2008-10-01

Entire cadres of the militant United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV) numbering 305, most of them belonging to the Reang tribe of southern Assam's Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, returned to the mainstream on Tuesday, ending their eight-year-old armed insurrection. The ULFBV was formed in 2001 and it raised an armed rebellion demanding the creation of a Zilla Parishad for the tribal communities in the Barak Valley, restoration of land to the tribal people and development of tribal-inhabited areas of the two districts. The Assam police said the aim of the outfit was to protect the Reang community from alleged "atrocities of the Mizos and Muslims." It received logistical support and training from the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), Dima Halam Daogah, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). Some of the cadres received training in Nagaland, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The outfit had declared a unilateral ceasefire on June 7 last. Led by their president Panchram Apeto, the ULFBV cadres, in battle fatigues, laid down arms and ammunition before Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Excise and Border Areas Development Minister Gautom Roy, Principal Secretary (Home) Subhas Das, Director-General of Police R.N. Mathur and General Officer Commanding of 21 Mountain Division of the Army, Major General Chander Prakash.

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India-Pakistan

Two rebels of banned group gunned down in NE India

2008-04-23

(KUNA) -- As many as two insurgents of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) were killed Tuesday in an encounter with security forces in India's Northeastern state of Tripura, which borders Bangladesh. The encounter took place in Tripura's Dhalai district, news agency Press Trust of India reported, quoting a state police officer. The encounter lasted for almost 15 minutes, the officer added. A grenade and 27 cartridges were recovered from the slain insurgents. Tripura shares 856-km-long border with Bangladesh. NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force are the two main rebel groups of Tripura. Leadership of both ATTF and NLFT are based in Bangladesh and operate from there. India has been seeking their extradition for long. Earlier this month Bangladesh had deported NLFT leader Sujit Debbarma to India, in the first such gesture. Since last month 32 NLFT rebels have surrendered to the Indian security forces in Tripura.

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India-Pakistan

Five insurgents of rebel groups surrender in NE India

2008-03-25

(KUNA) -- As many as five insurgents of three rebel outfits have surrendered in Indias Northeastern state of Tripura, bordering Bangladesh. A top insurgent of outlawed All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) Tapan Debbarma surrendered in West Tripura district last night and deposited one Chinesemade pistol and a grenade, news agency Press Trust of India reported Monday, quoting a state police official. In a separate incident, two insurgents of banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) surrendered in the Kanchanpur sub-division of North Tripura district last night, the official said. Two insurgents of Borok National Council of Tripura group, surrendered to police in the North Tripura district also last night, the official added. ATTF and NLFT are two key rebel groups of Tripura. However, over the past five years, insurgency has been on wane in the state, following sustained counter-insurgency operations and massive surrenders. Leadership of both ATTF and NLFT are based in Bangladesh and operate from there. India has sought their extradition from Dhaka.

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Bangladesh

Bangladesh is now a major terror hotspot

2006-03-21

Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is on an India visit and one of the main issues that New Delhi may bring up is the harbouring of insurgents from the north-east. For India, the concerns of Bangladesh becoming a safe haven for the terrorists, are mounting India has made it very clear that patience is running thin in Delhi over Dhaka's attitude As the separatist groups flex their muscles from neighbouring Bangladesh, north-east India continues to simmer. Bangladesh has emerged as the second front of Islamic terror in South Asia over the last five years. Notwithstanding the repeated demands from India for dismantling terror infrastructure in Bangladesh, it still remains a major hub for the ultras with as many as 172 insurgent camps operating in that country. "Bangladesh is taking some action against them. They have launched a few operations in which some militants have been killed. But it is not enough, Dhaka needs to do more," outgoing BSF Director General R S Mooshahary said. Many Islamic radical groups, some with links to Osama bin Laden led al-Qaeda, have set up their training camps in the country along with about 18 terrorist groups that are active in North-east India. There are nearly 200 camps, mostly close to the Indian border, of these terrorist and fundamentalist organisations inside Bangladesh. A meeting between the security agencies manning the border of the two countries, Border Security Force (BSF) of India and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), nearly three months back on the issue of the terror camps running in Bangladesh ended on a stormy note. The chief of BDR left the press conference abruptly because India had made it clear that patience was running out in New Delhi over Dhaka's attitude towards the problem especially when it comes to harbouring terror groups active in India. India has already given a list of 172 terrorist training camps active in Bangladesh which are run by 18 outfits from North-east India have set up bases in 20 districts across the border. "We have given them a list of 172 insurgent camps. They verified it and they say they are not there, which I feel is a routine reply," he said adding, "We are sure there are camps and we are sure that some insurgents from India have taken shelter in Bangladesh." The list of these training camps available exclusively to CNN-IBN shows that United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), which has been trying for a peace accord with New Delhi, and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) run the maximum number of camps, 38 each. The ULFA has been running its training campsin Chittagong, which is also the hotbed for Islamic fundamentalist activities in Bangladesh. The camps are being run at Sherpur, Cox's Bazaar, Mymensingh, Bandarban, Sunamgunj, Kurigram, Comilla, Jamalpur and Khagrachari and Tangail. Cox's Bazaar is the main smuggling route in the country of illegal arms whereas Khagrachari is the place where ULFA chief Paresh Barua survived a bid on his life in 2001. Apart from these place camps are also being run at Moulavi Bazaar, Rangamati, Netrakona, Panchagarh, Nilphamari and even capital Dhaka. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) which is fighting for an independent homeland in Manipur has found a safe haven in such camps operating on Bangladeshi soil. The problem has acquired a new and frightening dimension as Indian intelligence agencies allege that insurgents in Bangladesh are getting help from Islamic fundamentalist groups "The entire security spectrum will go haywire if this happens," former deputy chief of Research and Analysis Wing(RAW), the Indian agency responsible for external intelligence, Bibhuti Bhusan Nandy says. Nandy, who has been keeping a close watch on the activities of these groups in Bangladesh, also said that most of these insurgent bases are being funded by Pakistan's external intelligence agency, the ISI. "All these Islamic terrorist groups and our North-east insurgent groups are the masters of one and the same. It is the ISI and the DGFI of Bangladesh that have teamed up too destabilise this region," he adds. The concern has been mounting in India because as the terrorist groups flex their muscles from neighbouring Bangladesh, North-east India will continue to simmer. These outfits have been trying to imprint ethnic identity through armed insurgency and Bangladesh has even refused to accept the problem or address India's concern.

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