Shillong: Two top NDFB militants,
arrested along with three other cadres and a sympathizer in
Meghalaya, have admitted their involvement in a number of
killings and blasts in Assam, besides links with smaller
militant groups, police said.
Lachit Boro alias Langana confessed to have killed 26
people, including those in the serial strikes that the outfit
carried out in western Assam districts, mainly in Sonitpur,
killing more than 20 people in November last year, after a
cadre was gunned down by security forces, a top police
official said on Sunday.
Boro, the NDFB `commander of the eastern region`, his
deputy `major` Mathuram Brahma alias Mudoi, three other cadres
and a local sympathizer were arrested near Byrnihat, about 90
km from here, in Ri Bhoi district bordering Assam on Thursday.
Now in police custody for five days, Mudoi also
admitted his involvement in twin blasts at Assam`s Barpeta
Road where at least 11 people were killed in October 2008,
when the banned outfit had carried out a series of blasts
killing over 70 people in the neighbouring state.
A CBI official said Mudoi, along with 18 NDFB
militants, has been charge-sheeted in the case, which is being
probed into by the agency and they would seek his custody for
further investigation.
The arrested rebels also admitted to have maintained
links with outfits like Hynniewtrep National Liberation
Council (HNLC) and the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA).
"They have confirmed meetings with leaders of HNLC
and GNLA and sharing of weapons and extorted money," the
police official said.
"Boro had personally met the HNLC chief Bobby Marwein
and general secretary Cherishterfield Thangkhiew in Bangladesh
where it was agreed that the NDFB will provide arms and
ammunition to the HNLC while in return the Khasi outfit will
share half of all the money it collected through extortion and
other means," the official said.
Boro was also responsible for kidnapping Maharashtra
forest department officer Vilas Bardekar in Arunachal Pradesh
last year. The IFS officer was released after 78 days. The
militant confessed to have taken Rs 1 crore for his release,
investigating officials said.
Other arrested cadres are Nichiram Basumatary, Nakul
Boro and Dharmeswar Brahma. A local tribal, believed to an
accomplice in whose house these cadres were hiding, was also
picked up.
The NDFB cadres had entered from Bangladesh on February
7 through West Khasi Hills border. They had stayed for a day
at Byrnihat before entering Assam, officials added.
PTI
