Ulfa cadres at an NSCN-K camp in Myanmar. A file picture

Guwahati, Dec. 22: Apprehension of confrontation with Naga militants in ceasefire with the Centre has forced the army to shelve a plan to storm Ulfa hideouts in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

Sources in the army today said there was concrete evidence about Ulfa militants taking shelter in NSCN (Khaplang) camps in Nagaland, bordering Myanmar, and also at a few places along the Nagaland-Arunachal border.

“Our spotters have located these camps but the fear is that there are also a large number of Naga militants there and we do not want any kind of confrontation with the NSCN,” an army officer said. The Khaplang group is in ceasefire with the Centre.

The sources said the plan to storm the camps was made soon after the arrest of a woman Ulfa cadre, Mina Gogoi, from Assam’s Sivasagar district last month.

Mina, one of the oldest woman cadres in the outfit and wife of Ulfa militant Roman Dhodomia, was apprehended while she was crossing over to Assam from Nagaland. Her husband and a few other Ulfa cadres in the group fled to Nagaland.

“We recovered several photographs of these camps from Mina and got vital information from her. We soon sent spotters and ascertained the presence of these camps,” the officer said. However, the plan to barge into these camps had to be shelved as there were a large number of NSCN (Khaplang) cadres there.

“Our hands are tied, otherwise we would have had many Ulfa cadres in custody by now,” the officer said.

The sources said Ulfa was not only using these camps in Nagaland to train cadres but also as transit camps to move to-and-fro from Myanmar-based general headquarters.

Senior Ulfa leaders based at Myanmar — Jibon Moran, Michael Dekaphukon, Sujit Mohon, Horen Phukon and others — frequently visit these camps, the sources said.

“Had the NSCN (Khaplang) not provided logistical support to the Ulfa, by now we could have easily choked the routes the militants take to travel to Myanmar,” the officer said.

It was in such a camp recently that Ulfa’s “2nd lieutenant” Seema Bora was killed and another woman cadre, Satyama Bailung, was injured when “sergeant” Atula Gogoi, alias Prasant, of the outfit fired on them following a quarrel. A meeting was scheduled to be held at the camp prior to the incident and several senior cadres were present there.

The sources said there were similar camps in Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Nagaland, where Ulfa militants were taking shelter with Khaplang militants.

An Assam police official recently told The Telegraph that several Ulfa cadres had fled their Myanmar camps and were contacting security forces expressing their willingness to come overground. But these cadres were undecided on whether to join the pro-talks group of the Ulfa or surrender.

A leader of the pro-talks group said the NSCN (K) had been providing logistical support to the Ulfa in exchange of money for a long time.