Weapons and ammunition of former NDFB militants recovered in Assam

A senior police officer said on Tuesday that a large quantity of weapons had been found buried in the forest in Kokrajhar district of Assam.

Special Director General of Police-cum-IGP (BTAD) LR Bishnoi told a press conference here that it is suspected that the NDFB militants who surrendered these weapons leaked to Bogribari police station. He was buried at a place under the outpost.

“We had intelligence that the weapons of the surrendering NDFB militants could be hidden in some places. Last week, we received such information and started acting on it,” he added.

Bishnoi said the Kokrajhardistrict police formed three different teams under the supervision of Superintendent of Police Thobe Pratik Vijay Kumar.

“Our target area was Mahamaya Reserve Forest. During the last two days of operations, we have been able to recover large quantities of arms and ammunition from the forest,” he added.

The Special DGP said police recovered two Israeli-made UG rifles and four magazines, 22 pressure bombs, their caps and 16 HE36 hand grenades.
Bishnoi added that there were reports of more such weapons being hidden in the area.

Talking about the recovery of weapons belonging to former cadres of various militant groups, Kokrajhar SP said that the district police was continuously providing intelligence to eradicate “culture of weapons” for peace and development.

“In 2020, one extremist was neutralized and 12 were arrested. This year we also recovered 97 different weapons, about 1,500 rounds of ammunition and 44 grenades,” he added.

Similarly, in 2021, Kokrajhar police continued operations and neutralised two extremists and arrested 10 others, Kumar said.
“We recovered 36 weapons, 17 grenades and 660 rounds of ammunition in 2021. This year too, such operations will continue till we recover all the illegal weapons in Kokrajhar,” said SP. Added.