The NDFB(S) group that is suspected to have carried out the deadly attack in Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Friday has strong links with ISI, says former DGP Assam Ghanashyam Murari Srivastava.
GMS said that the militant group was mentored by the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence to carry out terror strikes in Assam in a secret meeting that took place two months back at a clandestine location at Chittagong in Bangladesh.
G M Srivastava
He said that as per the mentorship of the patron, the group planned to launch attack in Assam.
Tipped off by sources, the police had ambushed a group of NDFB(S) militants on 16 July and killed three of them in Kokrajhar district.
“If we go back to the records of militant attacks in Assam in the last 20 years we will find that they attack innocent people only when they are weak or they feel that local people have tipped off security forces about their existence. Today’s attack seems to have been factored by similar condition,” he said.
He said that such an attack was not difficult to anticipate, given the fact that the joint operation of the police and army neutralised three militants only last month.
The former Assam police chief further said that the militant group normally carry out these attacks to spread fear among the common people to prevent them from cooperating with the security forces.
One such incident was the brutal murder of a young girl in August 2014.
A bright Class-X student Priya Basumatari from Runikhata Girls’ High School in Laimati–Dwimuguri village in Chirang district was brutally killed in front of her family and other villagers by the NDFB(S), which suspected her of being a police informer.
“When security forces fail to garner support from people it becomes easier for the militants to find money and shelter,” the former police chief said.
militants normally carry out these attacks to spread fear among the common people to prevent them from cooperating with the security forces. One such incident was the brutal murder of a young girl in August 2014. A bright Class-X student Priya basumatari from Runikhata Girls’ High School in Laimati–Dwimuguri village in Chirang district was brutally killed in front of her family and other villagers by the NDFB(S), which suspected her of being a police informer
In May 2014, heavily armed NDFB(S) militants had shot dead 11 people, including three children, and left three others seriously injured. Out of the 11, seven were shot dead in Kokrajhar. A group of 20 to 25 NDFB-Songbijit militants, armed with AK-47 rifles, swooped down on three houses at Balapara-I village in Kokrajhar district early on Friday and fired indiscriminately killing seven people on the spot, says Assam police.
In December 2014, NDFB(S) had gunned down 78 people in BTAD areas including Kokrajhar. So the NDFB is known for huge anomic violence and mindless massacres, especially when they are down and out.
According to GMS, the Kokrajhar attack on Friday are unlikely to be carried out directly by Jihadi groups, but the NDFB group has strong links with ISI.
Ajit Doval going to Assam with his NSA team, to assess security situation in the state.
GEOFFREY MACDONALD | BANGLADESH’s streets have again erupted with political violence. In early July, a university student protest began over Bangladesh’s job quota system that disproportionately benefits the descendants of Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war fighters, which many students view as unfair and outdated. Early last week, peaceful protests turned violent as police and ruling party…
LOOKEAST REPORT | POLICE and security officials in Bangladesh fired bullets and tear gas at protesters and banned all gatherings in the capital on Friday, as internet and mobile services were cut off after days of deadly clashes over the allocation of government jobs. The protests, which began weeks ago but escalated sharply on Monday,…
DR MANAS DAS | SOME say it is an anachronism. To some others it is a mere fancy project. A considerable few are not sure about the future of this renovated legacy and they fume at the brouhaha over it. But not many, in their senses, can dispute the glamour and pride associated with the…
LOOKEAST REPORT | INDIA and Bangladesh moved to bolster their defense relationship and signed agreements for expanding cooperation in maritime security, ocean economy, space, and telecommunication sectors, as New Delhi tries to present itself as a regional power. The agreements were signed during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India, the first foreign leader…
DR APARNA PANDE | INDIA’S diplomatic influence has grown significantly through 2023, attracting interest from countries worldwide looking to strengthen economic and strategic bonds with the South Asian nation. However, relations with its closest neighbors remain conflict–ridden and problematic. While its western neighbor Pakistan often captures international attention, its eastern neighbor, Myanmar (formerly Burma), is…
