Security forces in Assam have launched a massive combing operation to capture the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants, hiding in jungle areas along the borders.
The operation has been launched in some identified locations in and around Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan boundaries.
The step was undertaken after review of the the law and order situation of the State by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram at Guwahati on Friday.
The Home Minister directed the Unified Command to launch an "all-out" operation against the ultras and tackle them with an "iron hand".
Chidamabaram, who held a meeting with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, top army and paramilitary commanders, senior police and civil officials during his brief visit to Guwahati, said security forces had been instructed to take immediate measures to arrest those involved in killing of as many as 24 innocent people, most of them Hindi-speaking, and to deal with them sternly.
The Home Minister said the Centre had no objection in holding talks with all outfits, provided, they abjured violence as dialogue was the only way to solve problems.
While expressing displeasure over the stand taken by the NDFB anti-talk faction in resolving the Bodo issue, the Home Minister said its arrested chairman Ranjan Daimary was not interested in keeping the situation under control.
He said the outfit has not yet submitted its charter of demands but has given indication that they want more autonomy for the Bodos.
It may be recalled that the Centre had earlier created Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) involving four districts of lower Assam while negotiating with another Bodo militant outfit Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT) in 2003.(ANI)
