46 Militant of NLFB Laid Down Arms in Assam: Surrendered Huge Cache of Arms and Ammunitions

                                                                                                                                                     Dibya Kamal Bordoloi 

46 members led by its Platoon Commander B Harfa of the newly formed insurgent outfit NLFB have surrendered with a massive cache of arms and ammunition in two days.

Guwahati: All cadres of the armed militant outfit National Liberation Front of Bodoland (NLFB) have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream. A total of 46 members led by its Platoon Commander B Harfa of the newly formed insurgent outfit NLFB have surrendered with a massive cache of arms and ammunition in two days, Assam police said on Sunday (Ausugt8).

Thirty-two insurgents laid down their arms on Sunday, and 14 surrendered on the previous day. Earlier on July 22, the newly floated outfit's self-styled Commander-in-Chief M Batha and 22 other insurgents had laid down their arms in the Udalguri district.

With the fresh surrenders on Sunday, 69 insurgents have laid down their arms to date.

The militants assembled at Jharbari forest range, and police brought them to Kokajhar. A senior police officer told Organiser, "Six AK-47 rifles, two carbines, self-loading rifles and. 303 rifles each, one 9mm pistol, three hand grenades, and a large number of cartridges have been seized," he said.

The group was floated after some disgruntled members of the erstwhile militant organisation National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) led by M Batha returned to the forest. NLFB was primarily involved in extortion in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).

Since its formation just before the assembly election in Assam, one outfit member has been killed in a police encounter, and 27 others have been arrested. Batha, a former NDFB militant, was among the 1,615 insurgents of all NDFB factions who surrendered on January 30 last year after signing the third Bodo Peace Accord.

However, Bath was not satisfied with the accord's implementation and went underground after the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections in December last year.

Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma had informed on July 12 in the assembly that 3,439 militants of various groups had surrendered since 2016 when the BJP came to power in the state.