Tripura militants have camps in Bangladesh: Police chief

Agartala: The separatist groups from India`s northeast regions have their camps in Bangladesh, though the Bangladeshi security forces` have been cracking down on them, Director General of Tripura Police C Balasubramaniam said here on Thursday.

"At present, there are about 15-18 camps belonging to Tripura militants alone in various parts of Bangladesh, especially southestern region of that country," Balasubramaniam told reporters. According to the police chief, these camps, mostly belonging to outlawed NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura), exist opposite to Tripura`s eleven police stations in eastern and northern region of the state. Balasubramaniam said Assam Rifles and Tripura State Rifles (TSR), trained for counter insurgency operations, besides the Border Security Force (BSF) troopers have always been on alert to prevent the militants from entering the state from across the border. "There is no fresh recruitment by the militant outfits in the recent past. If the developmental processes are going on smoothly, terrorism would be washed out from the northeastern states," he said. He said the militants of various separatist outfits go to the neighbouring country for training and come back to carry out violent activities in the region. "Taking advantage of the hilly terrain, thick forests and unfenced border, northeast militants trained in the Bangladesh camps cross over into Indian territory," the DGP said. He said that the general law and order situation of the state has improved significantly, and insurgency related incidents are down. "Extremists are suffering a severe financial crunch. The lower-level cadres of the outfit are frustrated as they are not getting the due financial share and other facilities, forcing them to surrender to the security forces of Tripura," he said. Tripura`s two militant secessionist outfits - NLFT and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), both banned by the Indian authorities - have set up bases in Bangladesh along with the other outfits of the northeast, and receive support from other separatist outfits of the northeastern region. They have been demanding secession of Tripura from India. Tripura shares a 856 km border with Bangladesh, some of it unfenced and running through dense forests, making it porous and vulnerable.