College students stage a demonstration in Guwahati on Friday demanding security for women and children caught in the operations launched by the Royal Bhutan Army against militant outfits. Picture by Eastern Projections

Dec. 19: As Bhutan was drawing up plans for a military operation, the Ulfa was quietly shifting some of its members and weapons from the Himalayan kingdom to the dense jungles of Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district.

Intelligence agencies suspect that Changlang will become the Ulfa’s favourite shelter now that Bhutan has closed its gates to militants. The Ulfa could set up camps in Nagaland’s Mon district, too, because that will give it easy access to the Upper Assam districts.

A senior official in an intelligence agency said an Ulfa team was in Changlang on a “reconnaissance mission” around August-September, well in advance of the ongoing operation by the Royal Bhutan Army.

“The rebels did know that something was coming, though they probably could not have known when and how,” he said.

The official claimed that top Ulfa leader Indrajit Malagharia led a group of about seven militants from their now-demolished central headquarters in Bhutan to Changlang to find locations for new camps.

He said an intelligence agency got wind of the Ulfa mission through intercepted messages and informed the police about it.

Police officials in Tinsukia attributed the spurt in Ulfa activity in Upper Assam during the past couple of months to the increased presence of militants in the areas close to Changlang, which is just across the border. Changlang has camps of the NSCN (Khaplang), with whom the Ulfa is cordial.

The Naga militant group launched an operation codenamed “Rocket” along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border recently to strengthen its bases in the area. Its main objective is to shunt out the rival NSCN (Isak-Muivah) from the area.

For the Ulfa and the Naga militant groups, the strategic importance of Changlang lies in the fact that the district borders Myanmar.

The Ulfa already has camps in the NSCN (K) council headquarters at Tinap Tipak Jokhu Valley of Myanmar. Ulfa militants are known to undergo training at the NSCN (K) general headquarters nearby.

“Changlang has always been the transit route for Northeast militants bound for Myanmar. It is now emerging as the most favoured site for full-fledged camps. Post-Bhutan, it could well be the operational headquarters of the outfit,” the official said.

Dispur had come up with the idea of a joint operation with Arunachal Pradesh to flush out Ulfa militants from Changlang. The proposal, which followed news of the banned group serving a Rs 2-crore extortion note on Hindustan Lever Ltd and the attack on one of its facilities in Tinsukia district, was rejected by Arunachal Pradesh.