Gogoi cracks the whip,NC Hills Council chief held for ‘rebel links’

With the Centre exerting pressure on the Assam Government to toughen its stand against militant outfits holding the entire North Cachar Hills district...

With the Centre exerting pressure on the Assam Government to toughen its stand against militant outfits holding the entire North Cachar Hills district to ransom for over five months now,the Assam Police on Saturday arrested Mohet Hojai,Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the NC Hills Autonomous Council,for his alleged links with militant groups.

Hojai was picked up from his residence at Haflong,the headquarters of the hill district,in a pre-dawn raid and brought to Guwahati. R H Khan,joint director of the Social Welfare Department under the Autonomous Council,was also arrested along with Hojai. Debajit Deuri,Additional SP,Guwahati City,confirmed their arrests.

Hojais arrest comes in the wake of about 300 militants of the outlawed Jewel Gorlossa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD-J) causing havoc in the hill district for four months now. The militant group has not only brought work on two national projectsthe 140-km stretch of East-West Corridor and 160-km stretch of broad gauge conversionto a standstill,but has also forced total disruption of railway traffic on the Lumding-Silchar section.

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This has happened despite the presence of over 60,000 security personnel in the 4,888-sq km hill district which has a population of just about two lakh people. Security forces deployed in the district also include one brigade of the Army in addition to a large number of para-military forces and Assam Police personnel.

Meanwhile,Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said he had on Friday only directed the police to arrest Hojai. I directed the state police to arrest him within 24 hours. It is now up to them to establish the charges, Gogoi said.

The police had on March 30 arrested a militant belonging to the DHD(J) near Shillong in Meghalaya and seized Rs 1 crore in cash from his possession. The arrested militant reportedly told the police that the money was given to him by CEM Hojai to hand over to some top leader of the outfit. Interestingly,Hojai,also senior leader of Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC),a regional party which had defeated the Congress in the Autonomous Council elections last year,remained untraced for more than six weeks since the militants arrest,and resurfaced at Haflong only a week ago.

We are yet not sure why exactly Hojai has been arrested. Our leaders are meeting tomorrow to discuss the matter, Kalijoy Sanguing,a senior functionary of the Autonomous State Demand Committee,said from Haflong.

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The law and order situation in the hill district continued to remain tense. On Saturday,one person was shot and houses set on fire near Haflong. Gogoi admitted that 70 militant-related incidents had taken place in the hill district in the past four months and at least 20 persons had been killed and more than 1,600 persons rendered homeless in the attacks.