A little over two years ago, when the NDFB (Ranjan Daimary faction) split — with its then “army chief” I K Songbijit declaring himself “interim president” of a new faction called NDFB(S) — very few thought it will turn out to be so dangerous. The group has since then killed more than 200 people and kidnapped dozens, with the victims ranging from a five-month-old baby to an additional superintendent of police.
Interestingly, though the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) has always aimed for a “sovereign” Bodoland, Songbijit himself is not a Bodo tribal by birth. He is from the Karbi community, which has a few settlers in Sonitpur district.
To be exact, he hails from Chelaikhati village under Biswanath Chariali sub-division in Sonitpur district, where his men massacred 31 people from the Adivasi community on Tuesday. His village was only 10 km from the spot of the bloodshed.
While the NDFB was born as Bodo Security Force in 1986, it changed its name in 1994. It suffered a split in 2008 when founder-chairman Ranjan Daimary gave the go-ahead to carry out serial blasts, prompting secretary Gobinda Basumatary to constitute NDFB(Progressive). Songbijit, who became “army commander” in 2009, meanwhile fell out with the top leadership and floated NDFB(S), now the most dreaded faction.
In its latest attack, changing its target from Muslims to Adivasi settlers seems to have caught the police off guard. While police had increased security in pockets where Muslim settlers are vulnerable, the NDFB(S) instead chose a different target, with intelligence officers now saying it was an elaborate plan to simultaneously hit Adivasis in different districts.
Significantly, two of the five locations are close to the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary, while three others are close to the international boundary with Bhutan. “They chose these locations so they could sneak into jungles in Bhutan and Arunachal,” said a police officer.
The Assam Police had in January declared Songbijit and 14 others “most wanted”, and announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for those who provided leads that helped in the arrest of the NDFB(S) chairman and four other top leaders of his faction. The NDFB(S) has a “national council” comprising nine members.
“The NDFB(S) has about 270 cadres, including regional commanders. But what is most important is that they have a sizeable number of sophisticated weapons, including AK-series rifles. Since they have a camp in Myanmar across Arunachal, they have easy access to the latest weapons,” said Pallab Bhattacharyya, additional DG (Special Branch) of the Assam Police.
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