12-16-2003, 10:53 PM
BHUTAN-GOGOI
<b>Crackdown on ultras: Red alert in Assam </b>
GUWAHATI, DEC 16 (PTI)
The Assam government has sounded a red alert across the state in view of the Royal Bhutan Army launching an operation against north east insurgent outfits holed up in that country.
All police stations and district administrations have been alerted to remain on guard against any possible attempts by insurgents to lauch revenge strikes in retaliation to attacks on their camps in Bhutan, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters here today.
"The militants will definitely try to strike but we have taken preventive measures. The fleeing ultras from Bhutan also cannot be allowed to enter here when they are banned outfits", he said.
The army and paramilitary forces too have been instructed to strengthen their presence along the Indo-Bhutan border at Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur districts, Gogoi said.
The Centre has been asked for Special Services Bureau (SSB) forces that were withdrawn from the Indo-Bhutan border to Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding the the forces are being sent back to the state.
"The extremists should surrender. See what happened to Saddam Hussein, " he said.
"If the militants surrender and give up their armed struggle then we will accept them back to the mainstream... They must realise the futility of continuing an armed struggle as they will achieve nothing. They should follow the footsteps of Laldenga in Mizoram, NSCN in Nagaland and Bodo Liberation Tigers here", he said.
To a querry whether he would give safe passage to the fleeing militants as they were " sons of Assam soil", Gogoi said "An anti-national is an anti-national. We don't care they are sons of which soil." "Action has to be taken against insurgents. If they are not finished, we will be," he said adding "Let them surrender we will rehabilitate them." Assam, he said, not only wanted the closure of the rebel camps in Bhutan but also of those in Bangladesh and Myanmar and was coordinating with neighbouring West Bengal on the insurgency issue.
"We are surrounded by militant camps in neighbouring countries on all sides. Though the situation here has improved now, we are more vulnerable than before," he said.
Welcoming the action of the Royal Bhutan army against the rebels, the news of which was communicated to him personally by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Gogoi said the Centre took up the ultra camp issue with the government in that country following sustained efforts by him.
<b>Crackdown on ultras: Red alert in Assam </b>
GUWAHATI, DEC 16 (PTI)
The Assam government has sounded a red alert across the state in view of the Royal Bhutan Army launching an operation against north east insurgent outfits holed up in that country.
All police stations and district administrations have been alerted to remain on guard against any possible attempts by insurgents to lauch revenge strikes in retaliation to attacks on their camps in Bhutan, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters here today.
"The militants will definitely try to strike but we have taken preventive measures. The fleeing ultras from Bhutan also cannot be allowed to enter here when they are banned outfits", he said.
The army and paramilitary forces too have been instructed to strengthen their presence along the Indo-Bhutan border at Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur districts, Gogoi said.
The Centre has been asked for Special Services Bureau (SSB) forces that were withdrawn from the Indo-Bhutan border to Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding the the forces are being sent back to the state.
"The extremists should surrender. See what happened to Saddam Hussein, " he said.
"If the militants surrender and give up their armed struggle then we will accept them back to the mainstream... They must realise the futility of continuing an armed struggle as they will achieve nothing. They should follow the footsteps of Laldenga in Mizoram, NSCN in Nagaland and Bodo Liberation Tigers here", he said.
To a querry whether he would give safe passage to the fleeing militants as they were " sons of Assam soil", Gogoi said "An anti-national is an anti-national. We don't care they are sons of which soil." "Action has to be taken against insurgents. If they are not finished, we will be," he said adding "Let them surrender we will rehabilitate them." Assam, he said, not only wanted the closure of the rebel camps in Bhutan but also of those in Bangladesh and Myanmar and was coordinating with neighbouring West Bengal on the insurgency issue.
"We are surrounded by militant camps in neighbouring countries on all sides. Though the situation here has improved now, we are more vulnerable than before," he said.
Welcoming the action of the Royal Bhutan army against the rebels, the news of which was communicated to him personally by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Gogoi said the Centre took up the ultra camp issue with the government in that country following sustained efforts by him.