In a major breakthrough, a joint team of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam police arrested a self-styled 'brigadier' of the NSCN (IM) from insurgency-hit Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh.

The joint team nabbed Absalom Raman alias Absalom Tangkhul from a village along Arunachal-Assam boundary on Monday, official sources said in Itanagar on Tuesday.

"This is probably the biggest catch of an insurgent leader in Arunachal Pradesh", the sources claimed.

The dreaded leader was active in Tirap and Changlang districts for over 10 years and was behind the ingress and establishment of NSCN (IM) in a previously NSCN (K) dominated area.

He was also responsible for setting up of a camp deep in the jungles near Longbo village, which was destroyed in a two-day operation in December last.