The security agencies in Assam are worried about the growing activities of National Social Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) rebels in Dima Hasao district where heavily armed Naga rebels in an ambush on Saturday gunned down a policeman.
Pointing out that it has come close on the heels of Thursday’s offensive in which NSCN (I-M) rebels had killed an Army soldier and wounded six others in an ambush on an Army convoy, security sources said that tension was mounting in the area as Army has not only forced NSCN(I-M) to stop tax collection but also compelled them to return the money collected as tax from villagers in Assam.
The police said that heavily armed insurgents, who were hiding, fired upon the police patrolling team, which was on motorcycles near Lunkhuk village, under Haflong police station, at around 8.30 am on Saturday killing Luhit Nath on the spot.
The militants were armed with sophisticated weapons, the security sources said, adding that a search operation has been launched in the area to nab the attackers who fled after the ambush.
Security forces are yet to ascertain the identity of assailants but suspected involvement of Naga rebels who are targeting army for driving them out of Dima Hasao district.
Asserting that NSCN(I-M) was collecting taxes in frontier area of Dima Hasao district adjoining Nagaland and Manipur, security sources said that NSCN(I-M) rebels are also found to have been involved in propping up a forum of non-Dimasa indigenous people in the frontier district.
Clarifying that cease-fire with NSCN(I-M) was not applicable in Assam, security sources said that NSCN(I-M) have been told to refrain from indulging in their tax collection and other activities inside Assam.
Security sources also claimed that NSCN(I-M) leaders have also been to restrict the movement of armed NSCN(I-M) rebels outside the state. The activity of NSCN(I-M) was also the area of concern for the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh where all the three factions of NSCN has been threatening the peace of trouble-torn Tirap and Changlang districts.