India’s military forces have staged their biggest operation yet against a militant group known as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), sometimes operating near the international border with Bhutan, Indian media reported. This latest operation against a NDFB militant outfit was launched on Saturday in areas of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts in Assam.
Assam Director General of Police Khagen Sarma admitted that even though the security forces were able to make some progress during earlier military operations against the militants, final success has yet to be achieved.
He added that NDFB commander B. Bidai, who was involved in last December’s Adivasi massacre, has gone into hiding and spotting him will be a tricky task, “particularly due to the forested areas, which work in his favor.”
Earlier, an army spokesman said that during previous operations, ” 18 terrorists were neutralized, 539 terrorists and workers related to them were apprehended and 175 assorted weapons, 180 hand grenades and seven improvised explosive devices seized.”
The National Democratic Front of Bodoland was formed in 1986. The group seeks the establishment of an independent Bodoland state in Assam.
NDFB militants have been terrorizing non-Bodo people in remote villages of the region for decades. Two years ago growing violence in the region triggered a massive outflow of 300,000 Assam residents to refugee camps.