Huge stock of arms and ammunition found in forest of Karbi Anglong by Assam Police.
During the early hours of January 23, the Assam Police found huge cache of and ammunition, in the forest of Diphu, Karbi Anglong.
About the operation
The arms and ammunition which are suspected to be of militant outfit KDLF were found buried in the forest behind a botanical garden near the Diphu-Lumding Road.
According to the Diphu Police station officer in charge JS Khobung, the arms and ammunition were hidden there by Karbi Democratic Liberation Front (KDLF) self-styled chairman Jackson Ronghang, who was killed in a gunfight with security forces in December, 2021.
He further said that the police launched a search operation to recover the stock of arms and ammunition and finally discovered them during the afternoon of January 22.
However, no individuals have been arrested yet in connection with the recoveries.
Items recovered
A .22 rifle, a .303 rifle, a hand-made pistol, several grenades and detonators, magazines and explosives of different kinds have been recovered by the Police.
The Northeastern region of India has become prone to arms trafficking over the growing period.
CM tweets for Assam police
“Compliments to @assampolice for large-scale seizure of rifles & ammunition, stashed in woods near Diphu,” Assam Chief Minister said on Twitter on Saturday. “Following the December 21 encounter of Jackson SS, Chairman of the KDLF, police have been investigating this case. Rifles, pistols,
Recent case
Earlier, on January 18, in a joint operation which was carried out with Manipur Police, the aegis of Assam Rifles recovered a massive stock of arms and ammunition including automatic rifles, from a village in Churachandpur district.
According to a statement, the recovery included a 7.62 mm self-loading rifle, one 7.62 mm M-16 rifle, one 7.62 mm modified rifle, one hand-held ICOM radio set with charger, two 7.62 mm SLR magazine, one Chinese hand grenade and 15 bullets of different calibres.
Is Northeast a smuggling hub?
According to a report by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Arm smuggling network in Northeast India has seen drastic rise over the course of years.
Arms smuggling took a hit with the decline in insurgency after 2013-14, the DRI report said. “But as the routes and the network of carriers were already in place, a switch was made from arms to gold.”
However, the incessant demand for weapons in India proliferated over the years due to the low-intensity conflicts in Northeast India, Left-Wing extremism affected areas and Jammu and Kashmir. An unhindered inflow of small arms from different routes eventually reaches the insurgents, maoists, terrorists and other criminals. Illicit manufacture of local country made guns, stealing from government stocks, inadequate monitoring and surveillance etc, has further aggravated the situation. The Indian subcontinent is particularly vulnerable to this menace of contraband arms smuggling.
The arms smugglers are well aware of the difficult geographical terrain of the region. Also, they easily mix with the locals who unknowingly assist the smugglers in achieving their aim. However, the security officials posted along the border face the challenges posed by dense forests, hilly terrain and densely populated habitats of this area, limiting their surveillance capacity.
It is to be noted that amongst the Northeastern states, Mizoram has emerged as South Asia’s biggest smuggling hub for ecstasy drugs, gold and guns. Many of the Chin refugees, illegally settled in Mizoram have been caught for their involvement in various international arms smuggling networks, in close linkage with the UWSA.
Arms smuggling through Bangladesh is said to be facilitated by the dense forests of Chittagong hill tracts providing the smugglers safe haven and allowing them to sneak the weapons into India through the porous borders.
Further, the coastal border points between Bangladesh and Myanmar are also regarded as points for transit of contraband arms. These shipments land on coasts of South Bangladesh and Northwest Myanmar and then smuggled in smaller consignments into Northeast India.
