Assam police arrest youths trying to form new militant group; huge cache of arms recovered

Last week, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed concern over a potential resurgence of militant groups in the Northeast amid a change of government in Bangladesh.

The Assam Police and security forces on Monday successfully thwarted an attempt by some people to form a new militant group in the northeastern state and arrested around 20 youths from the Kokrajhar-Chirang forests, senior police officials said.

Security forces with the arrested youths. (Sourced photo)

The operation came barely days before the Independence Day celebrations, as security forces also recovered many firearms and explosives.

Sharing the information on social media platform X, Assam director general of police Gyanendra Pratap said, “Another success for Assam Police in Kokrajhar-Chirang forests, we’ve been able to intercept and bring out a group of 20 youths who had been trying to form a new militant group for the last three/four months. They’ve listened to reason and come out and handed over the weapons held by them.”

The weapons recovered during the operation include 6 automatic rifles, 4 single shot rifles, 3 pistols with magazines, 54 rounds of AK rifle ammunition, 9 rounds of pistol ammunition and five hand grenades, Singh said.

“Compliments to Kokrajhar Police for painstaking hard work. We strive to keep our state free of weapons & violence,” he said.

The DGP had on Sunday said the state police force tightened security arrangements across the state ahead of Independence Day after getting intel about the presence of banned militant group United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

“As per the intelligence agencies and other reports, a group of ULFA-I is stationed near the border and we are taking adequate measures,” he had said.

“We have a history of attacks by ULFA during Independence Day which includes the 2004 Dhemaji blast and some other instances. Considering this, we have tightened security across the state, especially in critical areas,” he added.

Last week, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed concern over a potential resurgence of militant groups in the Northeast amid a change of government in Bangladesh.