Twenty Two North-East Insurgents Brought Back From Myanmar

The Myanmar Government has on May 15, handed over a group of 22 northeast insurgents to the Indian government. These were wanted in Manipur and Assam.

A top Government official said, “This is a huge step for the Myanmar government and a reflection of the deepening ties between the two countries”. It all came into light only after the aircraft made its first stopover in Manipur capital Imphal, before heading to Assam’s Guwahati on Friday evening. The insurgents have been handed over to the local police in the two states.

A senior Government officer said, “This is the first time that the Myanmar government has acted on India’s request to hand over leaders of the northeast insurgent groups”. He added that entire operation was carried out  under the supervision of the National Security Adviser ,Ajit Doval.

This is seen as a result of increasing intelligence and defense cooperation between the two countries from both sides. Among those deported by Myanmar are some senior and long-wanted Indian insurgent leaders such as NDFB (S) self-styled home secretary Rajen Daimary, Capt Sanatomba Ningthoujam of UNLF and Lt Pashuram Laishram of PREPAK (Pro).

Almost 12 of the 22 insurgents are linked to four insurgent groups in Manipur: UNLF, PREPAK (Pro), KYKL and PLA. The remaining 10 are linked to Assam groups such as NDFB (S) and KLO.

The treacherous terrain along India’s over 1,600-km border with Myanmar makes the area ideal for camps of insurgent groups that have been fighting the Indian state for decades. But pressure has been building on the insurgent groups over the last few years after the Myanmar military agreed to conduct operations.

Last year, the Myanmar army carried out continuous operations through February and March 2019 on the basis of pin-pointed intelligence provided by Indian security agencies. The Myanmar army attacked multi-group terror camps at Taga in the north of the country across the Vijaynagar salient in Arunachal Pradesh in the first phase, and decimated Arakan, Nilgiri and Haukyat camps in the second. The 22 insurgents were caught by the Myanmar army in Sagaing Region in these operations. A national security official said Myanmar’s decision to hand over the insurgents is a huge message to the outfits that Naypyidaw is in sync with New Delhi on dealing with them.