The seizure of huge arms and ammunition in Chirang district under BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Area District) in Assam on Saturday, which were meant to be supplied to a Gorkha militant outfit in Darjeeling, indicates that the Nagaland’s trading town of Dimapur is fast becoming a hub of illegal arms, thanks to the laxity of Nagaland police in curbing activities of Naga militant outfits.
S N Singh, Assam police IG (law and order) told HT that in the past weeks, two major consignments of arms and ammunition recovered in Chirang district were smuggled to the state from Nagaland.
On Saturday, Assam police, SSB and CRPF recovered arms and ammunition from a Tata Safari vehicle bearing a West Bengal registration number at Chapaguri in Chirang district.
The items recovered included sophisticated weapons including M 16 rifle, two nine mm pistols, three .32 pistols, 80 rounds of AK series rifle ammunition, 198 rounds of M 16 ammunition, 300 rounds of nine mm ammunition and 60 rounds of .32 ammunition.
The two persons allegedly carried the arms consignment were arrested. They revealed to police that Dimapur town in Nagaland was their arms consignment collection centre. Police said that the arrested duo Umesh Karni is a member of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha and hails from Jalpaiguri area in West Bengal, while the second person, Ganesh Chetri hails from Baksa district in BTAD.
In Assam, all major arms consignment hauled in recent years were mostly smuggled to Nagaland. The buyers of these consignments were militant outfits.
{{/usCountry}}In Assam, all major arms consignment hauled in recent years were mostly smuggled to Nagaland. The buyers of these consignments were militant outfits.
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