Tripura police draft new plan to crush rebels

AGARTALA, March 25: The beleaguered National Liberation Front of Twipra launched the three recent ambushes in desperate bids to gain lost ground. The outfit has been hit by widespread dissent among its cadre. However, police and security forces in the state were confident of defeating the outfit's designs, director-general of police Bhusan Lal Vohra told newsmen yesterday. Vohra, currently preparing an action plan against the NLFT, is the key man behind rejuvenating the state police. He said the recent ambushes were a "seasonal phenomenon". "During this time of the year, it is easy for the militants to use the hilly terrain to their advantage," he added. "Very soon you will see them on the run again," the DGP said. "It is really heartening that the tribal people, even in the remotest areas, are coming forward with authentic information about movement of militants," he said. The police chief said 15 more Tripura State Rifles camps have been opened in the state because of which the tribals are "feeling secure". Vohra praised "hardworking police officers and personnel" engaged in counter-insurgency operations. He cited the example of sub-divisional police officer Manoranjan Debbarma of the Gandacherra subdivision. Eight hardcore rebels laid down arms in Gandacherra recently. Vohra said from July 2000 to February 2001, there were 71 encounters in which 44 militants were killed and 104 weapons seized. "The NLFT's collaboration network has been broken and abductions have also come down," the DGP said, adding that the police had rescued several abducted civilians. Vohra said despite working in tough conditions, the state police had a "clean" human rights record. "Officers have been strictly instructed not to violate human rights while carrying out duties," he said. The police have also started "mass contact and civic action programmes" in the interior areas on market days. The DGP, who extensively toured rebel-infested areas of the state recently, said a renewed offensive would be launched soon to end militancy. Militant stand: Dismissing all speculation about any imminent surrenders, the official faction of the National Liberation Front of Twipra today asserted that the outfit would carry on its struggle for the "liberation" of Tripura. The NLFT also claimed responsibility for the killing of three BSF jawans and eight General Reserve Engineering Force personnel in an ambush at Reangbasti under Salema police station on Wednesday. In a fax message from an undisclosed place to a local newspaper office yesterday, NLFT self-styled "chief of Army staff" "Col." S. Nazrath Borok said the NLFT was determined to achieve a "free kingdom of Tripura through armed struggle against Indian forces and would not relent till the target was reached." However, "Col." Borok dismissed any possibility of a ceasefire, adding that the NLFT would be ready to hold peace talks in a third country "if the international community wanted it."