Bangalore, Dec. 26: The National Investigation Agency, in collaboration with Bangalore police, arrested Atoshe Chopey, the prime accused in the March attack on Assam Rifles personnel in Kohima, from a lodge here yesterday.
An active member of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), Chopey, 27, was wanted for an attack on unarmed Assam Rifles personnel at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima on March 26 this year.
One soldier was killed and three others critically injured when Chopey and three accomplices fired indiscriminately at the men waiting at a bus stop in Kohima.
They had allegedly used AK-47 assault rifles and pistols in the attack that incidentally marked the end of a ceasefire between the insurgent group and the government.A senior police source said Chopey, who hails from Zunheboto district of Nagaland, was arrested based on investigations into his movements.
However, he didn't reveal the name of the lodge near MG Road in the city where Chopey was allegedly holed up in.
The officer said Chopey was produced before a city court to secure a transit remand.
He was taken to Nagaland today. Dimapur police commissioner Liremo Lotha said the militant was produced in the NIA special court at Dimapur but could not provide any details. "We only provided security but were otherwise not a part of the investigation," Lotha added.
The NSCN (K) leadership could also not be contacted as most of the top leaders are in Myanmar.
The source said Chopey was arrested after confirming his identity with various sources. "He also admitted his identity and confessed to staging the March attack in the preliminary interrogation," said the officer on condition of anonymity.
Chopey had been staying in the city for the past six months and worked at a restaurant, said the source.
To evade attention of sleuths, Chopey switched residences quite often and is believed to have stayed at Ejipura and Neelasandra - both middle-class localities in the city limits - before shifting to the lodge a few days ago.
An NIA statement issued here said the agency was closely tracking the movements of all the four persons believed to be involved in the attack.
The Centre had entrusted the NIA with the case May 18 this year, after which the central agency arrested NSCN (K) cadre Khekao Rochill who is a "finance secretary" of the banned group, self-styled major Kisheto Ayem and Ranjit Thapa, the driver of the car used in the shootout.
Wanted militants from Northeast have often been arrested from the city. They blend easily in Bangalore that is home to a large number of people from the Northeast, many of who work in the service sector.
In June, the anti-terror wing of Karnataka police had assisted an eight-member police team from Kokrajhar to arrest four militants of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (Songbijit).
The operation had netted Nerswn Basumatary of Narayanguri, Tonen Basumatary of Rupnathpur, Jipnal Narzary and Swmdwn Basumatary, all working in a plastic factory in Peenya Industrial area in north Bangalore.
An earlier joint-operation by the NIA and Bangalore police in January had led to the arrest of B. Sibigiri alias Sanju, an organising secretary of the NDFB (S) from a house in Electronics City on the southern outskirts.
The police had then described him as an organising secretary of the outfit wanted for his involvement in the December 23 killing of 66 tribals in Santipur village in Assam's Sonitpur district.
City police sources had then said the men were part of a group of around 40 Bodo militants who had spread out into southern states. While an estimated 150,000 Assamese live in the city, Bodos are very few and work mostly as security guards in commercial establishments.
