United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), led by Dristi Rajkhowa, is imparting bomb-making skill to the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) in the Durama range in Garo Hills region of the state, Meghalaya police today said.
"The faction group of the ULFA led by Rajkhowa is aiding the GNLA by extending specialise training in bomb making to the outfit," State Director General of Police (DGP) PJP Hanaman told reporters here.
Dristi Rajkhowa alias Manoj Rabha is heading the 109 Battalion of the ULFA.
Hanaman said, "The training is being imparted in the camps of the GNLA including the self-styled commander in chief Sohan D Shira located in the thick forest of the Durama range."
According to him, while the strength of the ULFA is not known in the state, but in each of the camps there have around 15-20 cadre of the ULFA trained along with the GNLA cadre.
Confirming the close-ties between the ULFA and ISI in neigbouring Bangladesh, the DGP said these ULFA cadre also got specialised bomb making skills in Bangladesh.
Elaborating on the link between ULFA and GNLA, he said, inputs shared by Assam police was that whenever there is any kidnapping in Assam by the ULFA, the abductees are brought to the GNLA camps in Durama range till the time money demanded by them is being paid.
Yesterday's incident, where three police personnel were killed when an IED planted by the GNLA went off at the narrow roads of Tebronggre, 25 km from Tura, West Garo Hills District is seen as a 'change of strategy' by the outfit against police who embarked a massive anti insurgent operations in the region.
He also said that through intelligence inputs, police in the past were able to identify and detect those (IEDs) before they exploded.
