GUWAHATI, Jan 5 – Though the security agencies are well aware of links between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the first time, the security forces have come to know about the links between the ISI and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) following the arrest of the outfit’s vice-chairman Dhiren Boro in Gangtok.
Highly placed security sources said that the security agencies always had doubts about links between the ISI and the NDFB, but the doubt was confirmed after the arrest of Dhiren Boro alias Sungtha. Sources said that during questioning, Dhiren Boro admitted that the NDFB established contact with the ISI through the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) in the mid-90s. A group of about 20 militants belonging to the outfit received training from the ISI in Pakistan in the late 90s. Sources said that the group was first taken to Dhaka and then to Islamabad, before being taken to an undisclosed location in that country for training on arms, tactical matters and intelligence. However, no detail of the present links between the NDFB and the ISI is known as yet.
The sources revealed that following the arrest of Dhiren Boro, a founder member of the outfit, the security agencies managed to get vital information about the activities of the NDFB. Sources said that the NDFB has a strong base in Nepal and the publicity secretary of the outfit B Erakdao is presently in Kathmandu. Boro told the security agencies that the outfit publishes most of its publicity material in Nepal to avoid detection by the forces.
The sources disclosed that several top leaders of the NDFB are in favour of talks with the Government and the matter was seriously discussed in the last general council meeting of the outfit. However, the general council did not take any final decision in this regard. The NDFB, which has two battalions of cadres, is planning to open a third battalion based in Bangladesh. The outfit already has strong bases in Bangladesh and its chairman Ranjan Daimary alias DR Nabla spends most of his time either in Dhaka or in Bangkok. It may be mentioned here that a hardcore NDFB activist was arrested in Jalpaiguri in North Bengal recently when he was taking an amount of Rs 12 lakh from its camp in Kalikhola in Bhutan to Bangladesh.
Security sources said that the recent arrests of Dhiren Boro and Govinda Basumatary, the general secretary of the NDFB would definitely demoralise the cadres as both of them were founder and active leaders of the outfit, the security agencies have also come to know about the bases of the NDFB in the neighbouring States as Govinda used to stay in Dimapur, while Dhiren Boro used to stay in Gangtok for the past one year. The finance secretary of the NDFB Nileswar Basumatary is reportedly still in Dimapur but his exact location is not yet known.
It may be mentioned here that the ULFA established contacts with the ISI through the Pakistani Embassy in Dhaka and a group of ULFA men received training in Pakistan in the late 1980s and now it has been confirmed that the NDFB also had strong links with the Pakistani agency.