114 Maoist cadres identified in Assam

The Maoists who are trying to gain a stronghold in Assam have 114 identified cadres working in the state, as per the information gathered by the special task force of Assam Police that was constituted to study the menace.

This was disclosed by J N Choudhury, director general of Assam Police, in Guwahati on Wednesday.

He said though the influence of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam is on the wane, ethnic militancy and Maoists were gradually gaining ground in Assam and posing a threat to the law and order situation in the state.

The DGP was, however, quick to point out that Assam police had not eased its operations against the ULFA (anti-talks) militants as there was no shortage of arms in the ULFA’s arsenal given the increasing recovery of arms and ammunition from arrested cadres and also numerous during search operations.

The state police chief further stated that along with the Maoists, ethnic militancy was too rearing its head in the state posing a challenge.

Regarding possible links between Maoists and ULFA (anti-talks) faction, the DGP said Assam police was yet to get hold of concrete evidence of any link between the Maoists and the ULFA, though the ‘catchment areas’ for both the groups were the same.

“These outfits mostly target vulnerable youths from remote and under-developed areas for recruitment as cadres. The Maoists presence is of concern in eastern Assam districts of Tinsukia Dibrugarh and Dhemaji,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, in order to face the challenges of the changing times, Assam Police is preparing a roadmap for the next 10 years in seven specific fields or sectors of policing.

“We have taken the first steps, but a long journey lies ahead of us. Policing changes with changing times and we must keep abreast of the developments,” the DGP said, adding Assam Police was in the process of preparing a roadmap for the future.

“We want to prepare a roadmap for Assam Police in 10 years. And we have identified seven fields or aspects for it. The plans are being drawn for crime-control or law and order, training, metropolitan policing, traffic management, delivery of public services and application of technology,” he informed.

The DGP said the objective was to make the force more people-friendly and also address the problems or shortcomings it was facing.