The Hindu : Bhutan Army captures top militants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 18, 2003

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Bhutan Army captures top militants

By Barun Das Gupta

GUWAHATI DEC. 17. The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) achieved major successes today in its operations against the north-eastern militants in India camping in Bhutan when it captured a dozen top men of the outfits.

The arrested included Mithinga Daimary, publicity secretary of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), B. Irakdao, publicity secretary of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and Tom Adhikary and Dalton Barman, the top two of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO).

Army sources here said that Mr. Daimary and Mr. Irakdao were handed over to the Red Horn Division of the Indian Army at Tamulpur (Assam) this morning. Mr. Adhikary and Mr. Barman were handed over to another Army contingent at Hashimara in the West Bengal.

The RBA also destroyed 30 well-fortified camps of the ultras at Deothan and adjoining places in Bhutan.

More than 100 ultras have so far been killed in the flush-out operations, being carried out with the logistic support by the Indian Army on this side of the border. Of the dead, 40 belong to the NDFB, 38 to ULFA and 12 to the KLO. The RBA has reportedly lost some three dozen of its soldiers.

`Operations to continue'

PTI reports:

Bhutan is determined to continue its operations to flush out anti-Indian insurgents but was willing "to see what happens if they (ultras) surrender."

Yeshey Dorjee, Director in Bhutan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "As of now the operations by the Royal Bhutan Army will continue to flush out the insurgents to leave our soil''. Asked if the Himalayan kingdom would call off its military operations if the rebels surrendered, Mr. Dorjee said, "it is a conjecture. We are a peace-loving nation and if they (militants) surrender then let us see what happens. But the operations as of now continue."

A source quoting intelligence and other reports in New Delhi said that ULFA cadres based in Bangladesh had been asked by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan to retaliate and strike targets in India.

The source said that some ULFA militants were preparing for a major strike in the north-east. UNI reports from Siliguri:

In Guwahati, ULFA's self-styled chairman, Arobinda Rajkhowa, appealed to the King of Bhutan to call off the operations against the militant outfit, whose Bhutan-based central and general headquarters have been seized. In a letter to King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, a copy of which was sent to some newspaper offices today, the ULFA chairman pleaded for a respite from the operation. The Royal Bhutanese Army also suffered losses. About 34 personnel have been killed and many injured since Monday.

Marcus Dam reports from Kolkata:

According to the West Bengal Home Secretary, A.K. Deb, the injured personnel of the Royal Bhutan Army have been admitted to Indian Army hospitals in north Bengal. He had no detailed information regarding casualties among the insurgents.

The flushing out of KLO militants from the camps is expected to go a long way in the efforts by the West Bengal Government to crack down on extremists in north Bengal. The Army remains on the alert along the border with Bhutan. West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district shares a 150-km-long border with Bhutan.

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