File picture of children at a relief camp in Maibong

Guwahati, Oct. 11: Dispur has moved the Centre with a request to rein in NSCN rebels trying to fill in the “void” left by the mass surrender of Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) rebels in North Cachar Hills last month.

In a letter to home minister P. Chidambaram last week about the successful surrender of the DHD (J), chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the Centre should take steps to check the Naga rebels in North Cachar Hills which shares its boundary with Cachar, Nagaon and Karbi Anglong, Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

The Naga militants were involved in the clashes between Dimasas and Zeme Nagas in the district earlier this year that left over 50 dead and thousands homeless.

The chief minister’s request, a source said, has been prompted by two factors.

First, Dispur does not want to be seen as working against the Naga peace process by taking any step on its own.

Second, it wants to pile pressure on the Centre to direct security agencies under it to co-operate with Dispur in maintaining law and order in the district.

Gogoi referred to NSCN rebels without identifying any faction in particular after mentioning how his government has effected the mass surrender of DHD (J) rebels.

He stated that there were “regular” reports of NSCN rebels going on an extortion spree in the district after the DHD (J) rebels surrendered, they said.

“Since the NSCN rebels are in peace talks with the Centre, Dispur wants to make it clear that this should not in any way affect peace in the state. If peace is affected, the onus is on the Centre to restore it. We should not be seen as playing spoilsport. The Centre, which recently expressed concern over how some governments in the Northeast are bowing to the demands of rebels, has to act now so as not to be seen as being in the same boat vis-à-vis appeasement of rebels,” a source said.

That the threat from NSCN rebels was a matter of concern became clear from the district administration’s request to Dispur to set up nine border outposts to check influx in Naga-dominated areas.

The DHD (J) leadership has also sought a designated camp in Mahur to check inflow of NSCN rebels.

The issue will figure in the Unified Command meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

It will focus on post-DHD (J) surrender situation and the NDFB massacre in Bhimajuli.

A source said Dispur and DHD (J) have begun working on the ground rules for the cadres who have surrendered and their rehabilitation procedure.