An ambush in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changland district on Sunday morning, which left one Assam Rifles jawan dead and another injured, was carried out jointly by the NSCN (K), Ulfa (Independent) and the PLA, the armed wing of Revolutionary Peoples Front, according to a statement issued by Ulfa (I) on Monday.
However, no official statement has been issued on the attack till Monday evening by Assam Rifles or the army.
The statement issued by Deep Asom of Ulfa(I)’s “publicity department” said the “joint military offensive against the occupational forces” was carried out by the cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) and the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) at 9am near Senmo village on Manmao road in Changlang district of “so-called Arunachal Pradesh”, killing two on the spot and others injured. The area is around 340km from state capital Itanagar.
Assam Rifles in a tweet has condoled the demise of warrant officer Birendra Singh, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh, in the line of duty.
“Singh, who was born in 1967, and was from 19 AR, hailed from Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh. We are readying to send his body home. We don’t have much details except combing operations are still continuing,” an Assam Rifles official told The Telegraph.
Another jawan was injured in the ambush which was carried out on a water tanker on the way to an Assam Rifles camp, around 5km from the incident site. He is being treated in Changlang.
The attack comes three days after the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was extended in three districts and four police station areas of the frontier state for another six months.
The Act gives security personnel unbridled power in “disturbed areas” to carry out its operations, among others.
A notification by the Union home ministry announcing the extension of AFSPA said, “...Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the following four police stations in other districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the State of Assam, are declared as ‘disturbed area’ under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 up to 31.03.2021 w.e.f. (with effect from) 01.10.2020, unless withdrawn earlier.”
The attack also come amid reports that India and Myanmar are set to sign a deal to extradite rebels taking shelter in the neighbouring country.
Insurgency-hit Changlang, Longding and Tirap are the three districts where AFSPA was extended. All the three districts border Myanmar, which is around 28km from the site of the attack. Changlang and Longding are separated by Tirap district.
In July, six militants of NSCN (I-M) were killed and an Assam Rifles personnel hurt during an encounter in Longding district.
The Ulfa statement said that for decades the “WeSEAn” (Western South East Asia ) people struggled with blood and tears to protest and defend our freedom enduring endless persecution and torture in the hands of the colonial occupational forces.
“ ... India must fully realise either its forceful occupation nor its draconian laws... will break the will of the WeSEAn people for self-determination. The WeSEAn revolution will endure and move forward as long as India illegally occupies and dominates our grievances.
“The more India oppresses and refuse to recognise our genuine struggle, we will continue to defend our legitimate rights at all cost,” the statement said.
