The Maoists are trying to gain foothold in the North-East again and they are getting ‘wide’ range of allies’ form rhino poachers of Kaziranga to the NSCN-IM which recently signed a peace deal with the Centre.
The startling facts came out during interrogation of top Maoists leader of Assam, Aditya Bora, who was arrested on October 1.
Bora alias ‘Baba’, was a most wanted in Assam Police list. He was the founder of the Upper Assam CPI(Maoists) and used to take direct instruction from CPI(Maoists) Politburo member Prasanta Ghosh alias Kishan Da, police sources said.
He also revealed that after most members of the CPI (Maoists) who operated across the state, including in lower Assam, Upper Assam and Barak valley region were arrested between 2012 to 2014, and he was busy reorganising the group.
He himself created a sleeper cell and got fresh recruits. It was not possible for him to send out the recruit for training to Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh due to scaled up operations. As such he was asked by the top leadership to float a ‘shadow’ organisation named Revolutionary Peoples Group (RPG).
Police sources further added that the RPG then established contacts with the NSCN-IM, so that it can get its new recruits trained in Nagaland. The CPI (Maoists) already had an understanding with the Revolutionary Peoples’ Front (RPF) of Manipur and Bora tried to send his cadres across the border to the RPF base at Sagaing division of Myanmar, sources added.
Bora was arrested on October 1 from Khakandaguri area under Dergaon police station in Golaghat along with two other associates Dulal Pegu and Moina Dohutia — both rhino poachers. They are also part of RPG that Bora raised up.
Police sources added that Pegu has sold many Rhino horns and the money has been used to procure arms for the new recruits.