Manipur Militant Groups Make Guwahati a Safe Haven for Extortion Activities

Manipur based militant groups and other outfit groups of north eastern region are trying to use Guwahati, the capital city of Assam as their safe haven for collecting organisational fund through extortion and arm trade.

The militant groups invest money extorted from various areas of the region.

This have been came to light on various occassions as security forces arrested few hardcore militants with arms and ammunitions from the heart of the city.

The security forces arrested four hardcore cadres of the Garo National Liberation Armry (GNLA) from the Gorchuk area in the city on Saturday.

Following a tip-off, a team of operations wing of Guwahati city police, Meghalaya police and CRPF nabbed the militants and recovered huge cache of ammunitions from their possession, police said.

The nabbed militants were identified as Salgra G Momin (21), Dapblin S Sangma (53), Swit Star G Momin (35) and Alichum Sangtam (26).

The security forces recovered one AK-47 rifle with two magazines, 231 rounds of AK ammunition, one Austria made X-33 gun, two magazines, 20 rounds of RA-55 ammunition and seized a vehicle.

Meanwhile, security forces arrested more than 20 Manipuri militants in last four months from the city, a police official said.

“The Manipuri rebels took shelter in the city. The rebels and leaders meet and linked up with local criminals to earn money in the city,” pollice source.

Security forces arrested a Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) militant on April 3.

Meanwhile, a member of Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and a self styled ‘sergeant major’ of Manipur-based Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) wasarrested in the city in last month.

If this illegal activitie continue, security agencies believe that Guwahati will be converted to a rebel city.

Hemanta Kumar Nath

Hemanta Kumar Nath is a correspondent in Assam, India, who reports on local news in Assam, the north east Indian state.