Manipur outfit chairman caught

This year-end is proving to be the end of the road for the chairmen of militant outfits in the Northeast.

This year-end is proving to be the end of the road for the chairmen of militant outfits in the Northeast.

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After the United Liberation Front of Asom's Arabinda Rajkhowa earlier this month, the Assam Police has caught the chief of Manipur-based Peoples' United Liberation Front (Azad faction) Raihanuddin. The police zeroed in on the dreaded militant and two others in the Gosala locality here Thursday afternoon.

"We had intelligence inputs about Raihanuddin having taken refuge in the city," said City Senior Superintendent of Police Pradip Saloi.

Raihanuddin, in his early 40s, were intercepted as then entered the area. Two grenades, several ATM cards and incriminating documents were found in a bag he was carrying.

Peoples' United Liberation Front was formed in 1993 following communal clashes in Thoubal district of Manipur. It espoused the cause of Pangals -Manipuri Muslims - but gradually fell into the jihadi mould. The outfit split in 2002 with Raihanuddin leading one of them.

Elsewhere in Assam, three National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants were killed in two separate encounters, one at Gossaiguri village in Baska district and the other at Missamari village in Sonitpur district. All the three belonged to the anti-talks faction of NDFB led by Bangladesh-based Ranjan Daimary.