File picture of Dilip Nunisa (centre) with his aides

Nagaon, Dec. 1: They have traded their grenades for gloves, bullets for bats. They have even changed their dress from olive green to white.

The once-dreaded rebels of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) are ready to fight the police once again, this time on the cricket field.

Among the participating teams of the 34th NC Hills Senior Cricket Tournament are Generation Club, led by the chairman of the DHD, Dilip Nunisa, and the NC Hills Khakee, led by district police chief Anurag Tankha.

When the two teams take on each other in the league stage of the tournament — which got under way on Friday — in a few days from now, they will give the term “evenly-matched foes” a new meaning.

“We took up the gun for the betterment of the district and now through sports we see the same goal,” said Nunisa over phone.

“We have good players who may be inexperienced but definitely not short of enthusiasm,” he added.

Nunisa and his band of cadres came overground in 2003 and are staying in designated camps at Dimabong Halali in Doyangbra, North Cachar Hills.

Though soccer is the more popular sport in the Northeast, especially among tribals, the DHD cadres picked up the finer points of cricket during their stay at their camps.

“It will be very interesting to face those boys on the cricket field,” the police chief said.

Militants as sport enthusiasts are not uncommon.

Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua was a very skilled and well-known football player before he picked up the gun.

Barua had even got a job in the Indian Railways in Tinsukia district purely for his soccer skills.

He used his soccer knowledge even on the “battlefield” — teaching his cadres how to dodge security forces just like a striker would try and avoid his “markers” on the football field.

The North Cachar Hills Sports Association general secretary, Thaitshu Daulogupu, said the initiative to organise the senior cricket league was taken keeping in mind the improved law and order situation in the district.

“It was cancelled last year because of the situation. Now everyone feels free, safe and secure. By reviving the league, we plan to spread the message of unity, equality and brotherhood,” Daulogupu added.

He said even the group led by Jewel Gorlosa was welcome if it wished to join the tournament.