Three Militants Arrested in Assam

Guwahati, Jan 14 (IANS) Three militants, including one from a Bodo militant group that was behind the massacre of adivasis in December, were Wednesday arrested in Assam, the army said.

Acting on a tip-off, the army's Red Horns division arrested a top leader of the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) from Goalpara district.

The arrested NDFB militant was identified as Pradeep Brahma, a self-styled platoon commander of the terror group.

An army statement said Brahma got his training in Bangladesh. Twelve rounds of M-16 rifle and two detonators were recovered from his possession, it added.

"The arrested militant is known to be a ruthless terrorist involved in the killing of many innocent citizens and attacks on police personnel in the past," it said.

In a separate operation, the army arrested two Rabha Viper Army (RVA) militants from Kokrajhar district. They were identified as Ful Kumar Rabha and Bishwajit Rabha.

One .9 mm Carbine Machine Gun was recovered from them, the army said.

The army, paramilitary forces and police have been carrying out operations in inaccessible forested areas of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts in search of Bodo militants after the carnage in which over 75 people were killed Dec 23 last year.

At least two senior leaders of the NDFB were killed and huge cache of arms and ammunition belonging to the group have also been recovered in past 10 days.

On Tuesday, eight Bodo militants, including a mastermind behind the massacre of adivasis, were arrested in Chirang district along the international border with Bhutan.