Army and police intensified their operation against the Dimasa National Revolutionary Front (DNRF) and the NSCN (I-M) active in Dima Hasao district, Assam. In course of the operation in the Maibang subdivision of Dima Hasao, cops on Sunday nabbed another NSCN (I-M) outfit.

According to Times of India report, four DNRF and NSCN (I-M) cadres were also killed in an encounter with the security forces while one NSCN (I-M) cadre was arrested in this village early Saturday.

ToI report said one ‘lieut’ Ajang Po of NSCN (I-M), was nabbed from Milubra village near Lungting around 11 a.m.

Sunday in a joint operation by the 9 Madras Regiment and the police. Sources said the DNRF is engaged in extortion in Hatikhali, Lungting and some other areas of the district for the past year with its limited strength following the surrender of 30 of its cadres last year.

However, the activities of the Dimasa outfit have become a cause of concern for the police and the security forces after it joined hands with the NSCN (I-M), reports stated.

“Both the outfits have been running extortion businesses in parts of the district. NSCN (I-M) has issued ‘notices’ in Prasademik, Khepre and other villages in Dima Hasao near Nagaland border demanding Rs 200 per family as annual tax.

Moreover, both the outfits have been issuing regular demand notes and extorting money through phone calls in Haflong and Maibang areas,” said an Assam police officer.

“The ongoing operation will not stop until the rebels are flushed out,” said a security official. A senior district administration official on Sunday said the government is mulling setting up a number of outposts along Dima Hasao’s border with Nagaland and Manipur only to stop Naga rebels from sneaking into the southern Assam district.