A large number of extremist outfits in north eastern states have their training camps in Bangladesh, but India was receiving 'splendid' cooperation from Dhaka after Sheikh Hasina became prime minister there, the government said on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha.
"Many leaders of these groups have found sanctuaries across the border. A significant number of leaders of these groups are there, they have training camps there," Home Minister P Chidambaram said during Question Hour.
He was responding to concerns about the cross border connections of extremist groups operating in the north east.
Chidambaram emphasised that the cooperation extended by Bangladesh to contain the problem has been 'splendid' since Sheikh Hasina came to power there.
Replying to a supplementary on the deportation of a Chinese woman suspected to be a spy, who had met some leaders of the outfits in the north eastern states, he said, "There was no evidence that she was a spy; she was a journalist."
Reports in the media had said that a Chinese national, Wang Qing, suspected to be operating as a spy in the guise of a TV reporter, was quietly deported by India in January.
The woman had posed as a TV reporter to meet Naga leader T Muivah in a government guest house in Delhi, the report had said.
While responding to another supplementary, the home minister did not rule out the possibility of government and public servants facing extortion by insurgent groups in north-eastern states.
On whether the chief minister of Manipur also got an extortion letter, Chidambaram said he was aware that there was a considerable degree of extortion, but he was 'unaware' of the particular case about the CM.
In the written reply, Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran said the security situation in north eastern states has improved considerably.
"There are reports of various militant groups and organisations indulging in extortion and abductions in some north eastern states. Concerted steps are being made by the state governments in the region to counter such activities of the groups. The central government is supplementing their efforts through various measures such as deployment of additional security forces," he said.
Latest data showed that the number of kidnapping cases in north eastern states had declined from 416 in 2008 to 214 last year, he added.
