ITANAGAR, May 8: The Arunachal Pradesh Police on Thursday said they have busted a network involving militant recruitment, arms trafficking, and cross-border criminal activity in the state.
The racket was linked to the National Socialist Council for Taniland (NSCT) and its armed wing, the United Tani Army (UTA), a senior police officer said here.
“Taniland” refers to a proposed state for the Tani community people, a group of tribes living mainly in the state’s northeastern region, particularly along the border with Assam. Several groups advocated for the creation of “Taniland”.
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An investigation began in January after the police took suo moto cognisance of threatening videos and letters circulated on social media, allegedly issued by an NSCT leader Anthony Doke, who was wanted in 20 cases.
A case was registered in this regard under various sections of the BNS and UAPA, Capital Superintendent of Police Rohit Rajbir Singh told reporters here.
Several people were arrested for recruiting youth from marginalised communities into the UTA and other offences like the Arms Act violation.
“Intelligence inputs confirmed involvement of some of them in an attempt to traffic a young boy from the Tarasso region in Papum Pare district to a militant training camp in Myanmar,” the SP said.
He added that further investigation revealed that at least three other boys had already been taken out of Itanagar to recruit them into the UTA by force.
Two of those boys have returned, sharing disturbing accounts of physical and mental torture and harsh living conditions during their forced training, the SP said.
A chargesheet in the case has already been submitted, while investigations are still on, he said.
On April 30, the police arrested one person linked to NSCN-KYA, who was engaged in extorting money from contractors to fund insurgent operations, Singh said adding that arms and ammunition were also recovered.
During interrogation, the arrested man said about an arms trafficking network based in Itanagar, with links to insurgent groups in Nagaland.
More arrests, recovery of arms and unaccounted cash followed, the SP said.
“In response, a second case was registered at Itanagar Police Station under sections of the BNS, section 13 of the UAPA and sections of the Arms Act, targeting the wider network involved in the distribution and concealment of illegal arms,” Singh said.
During the course of the investigation, authorities also uncovered a connection between this arms racket and a narcotics network operating in the Gohpur–Chimpu corridor near the state capital Itanagar, he said.
This resulted in a third case being registered at Chimpu Police Station under the NDPS Act. Two individuals were arrested, and narcotics were seized during follow-up operations. (PTI)
