The Centre on Thursday sounded a high-security alert across North-East after reports that NSCN(K) militants have entered India for revenge attacks following Army’s deadly strike on two terror camps of the insurgents inside the Myanmar border.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, Vice Chief of Army lt Gen Philip Campos. After assessing the various Intelligence inputs, the meeting decided to keep open both defensive and offensive options, said a senior MHA official.
According to these inputs, around 20 militants belonging to NSCN(K), PlA, UlFA and of other groups like the newly-formed United National liberation Front of West South-East Asia have crossed the India-Myanmar border with the intention of revenge attacks after Tuesday’s surgical strike by Army. The Intelligence agencies believe that the bomb blast in the Chandel area on the Wednesday evening was carried out by these elements.
The official said the Army may undertake similar strike in future if the situation demanded so. However, the Government may have exercised precaution taking into consideration the sensitivities involved with regard to Myanmar, where general election is due soon.
Sources said Doval, who will visit Myanmar soon, will brief the Myanmarese leadership about the circumstances leading to India taking the bold step of ordering surgical strike against militants operating from that country’s soil.
The top security brass emphasised the need for both defensive and offensive steps to be taken in the wake of Intelligence inputs that militants were desperate to carry out some spectacular attacks in the North-East.
NSCN(K) leader SS Khaplang (75) is believed to be ill and convalescing in a Yangon hospital. He is suffering from old-age related ailments and was shifted from his base in Tago, located along the Sino-Myanmar border, to Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon about four months ago, official sources said.
Myanmar had informed India about shifting Khaplang, who is a Myanmarese national, to Yangon in February and New Delhi had conveyed its no objection to that, sources said. The NSCN-K was then in a ceasefire agreement with the Government. However, barely a month after being shifted, the outfit ended the agreement. “We believe Khaplang continues to be in Yangon, undergoing treatment,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, the Centre has turned down NSCN (Issac-Muivah) offer to help security forced to hunt down Khaplang gang. “There was an offer from NSCN-IM to security forces that it would like to join the operations against NSCN-K militants in Manipur, Nagaland as well as across Indo-Myanmar border immediately after the June 4 incident. However, Government turned down the offer,” said sources.