P Chidambaram orders stepped-up ops against Bodo rebel outfit

Guwahati : Holding the NDFB (anti-talks faction) responsible for Monday?s killing spree in Assam, Union Home minister P Chidambaram on Friday asked security agencies to step-up operations to nab those behind the recent killing of 22 people in the state.

?We have asked the security forces to apprehend the leaders of NDFB (anti-talks faction) and perpetrators of the crime. They deserve exemplary punishment for the crime,? Chidambaram said.

He reviewed the security scene in the state in an hour-long meeting with top government and security officials at the BSF camp at Patgaon, on the outskirts of Guwahati, during a brief visit Friday afternoon.

Referring to the NDFB-sponsored insurgency, Chidambaram said the NDFB is a group which is not satisfied with the Bodoland Territorial Council and has been putting forward demands outside the purview of the Indian Constitution.

?Aspiration of Bodos has been met substantially by creation of the BTC, a splendid model of self governance. But the NDFB is a group which is not satisfied with the BTC,? he said.

The Union Home minister said the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) recently split into two factions and the anti-talks faction is responsible for the latest killing of innocent civilians.

?The Centre condemns the killing and warns the NDFB (anti-talks), which is an unlawful association, that it will be dealt with firmly as per the law,? he said.

?The chief of the NDFB (anti-talks) Ranjan Daimary, who is in judicial custody, seems unwilling to control criminal actions of the faction,? Chidambaram added.

He reiterated that the Centre was still ready to hold talks with the group if it forsakes violence.

?Only way forward for this group is talks. The centre and government of Assam will hold talks with any group, any fraction that abjure violence and not with the ones that went on carrying out criminal acts,? he said.

The NDFB (anti-talks faction) had killed 22 people, mostly Hindi-speaking, across the state on Monday to avenge the death of a cadre in an encounter with security forces.