New Delhi: The terrorist attack in Kokrajhar on Friday was being seen as the handiwork of insurgent outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland+ (Songbijit), which switched its tactic and target to pass off the strike as an act of jihadi terror.
In Friday's attack, suspected members of the anti-talks Songbijit faction, which has been implicably hostile to a truce with the Centre, targeted Bodos, among others, in a desperate tactic to distract security forces from themselves, and turn their attention towards the jihadi outfits that have lately been active in the region. NDFB (S) is known to carefully choose its targets on the basis of ethnicity, picking their victims from among Muslims and Adivasis (tribals), while sparing the Bodos.
At least six of the 13 killed in the indiscriminate firing on Friday+ were Bodos - a stark departure from its known pattern. "The target and modus operandi adopted by the NDFB (S) militants marks a departure from previous attacks, such as the killing of Adivasis in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar in December 2014 or the May 2014 Assam violence that claimed the lives of 32 Muslims," an officer of the central security establishment pointed out.
The masquerade, with the killers covering their faces, would have paid off too, but for the fact that one attacker was engaged and killed by the security forces. A phone recovered from his pocket showed up a number known to the intelligence agencies as the one in use by Christian-dominated NDFB(S).
The subsequent denial by NDFB (S) of its role in the attack only seems to be in line with its script of hiding behind the phantom of 'Islamic terrorists'. Importantly, the attack appears to coincide with indications of rumblings within NDFB (S), with intelligence inputs suggesting that chief I K Songbijit is under pressure to make way for general secreatary B Saoraigwra. Both Songbijit and Saoraigwra are suspected to be hiding in Myanmar, under the patronisation of NSCN (Khaplang).
The anti-talks faction of NDFB has been facing a crackdown over the past few months, especially since they butchered Adivasis in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur in 2014. The NIA has since arrested 86 NDFB (S) members from Assam and other north-eastern states, of which 63 have been chargesheeted. According to estimates, the strength of NDFB (S) currently stands at around 150 cadres now, down from 300-400 a couple of years ago. Since the Modi government came to power, the security forces have been going all out against the militant outfit. The continuous crackdown by the NIA, local police and the Army has hit the outfit hard in the last couple of years and their activities are under watch.
In Friday's attack, suspected members of the anti-talks Songbijit faction, which has been implicably hostile to a truce with the Centre, targeted Bodos, among others, in a desperate tactic to distract security forces from themselves, and turn their attention towards the jihadi outfits that have lately been active in the region. NDFB (S) is known to carefully choose its targets on the basis of ethnicity, picking their victims from among Muslims and Adivasis (tribals), while sparing the Bodos.
At least six of the 13 killed in the indiscriminate firing on Friday+ were Bodos - a stark departure from its known pattern. "The target and modus operandi adopted by the NDFB (S) militants marks a departure from previous attacks, such as the killing of Adivasis in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar in December 2014 or the May 2014 Assam violence that claimed the lives of 32 Muslims," an officer of the central security establishment pointed out.
The masquerade, with the killers covering their faces, would have paid off too, but for the fact that one attacker was engaged and killed by the security forces. A phone recovered from his pocket showed up a number known to the intelligence agencies as the one in use by Christian-dominated NDFB(S).
The subsequent denial by NDFB (S) of its role in the attack only seems to be in line with its script of hiding behind the phantom of 'Islamic terrorists'. Importantly, the attack appears to coincide with indications of rumblings within NDFB (S), with intelligence inputs suggesting that chief I K Songbijit is under pressure to make way for general secreatary B Saoraigwra. Both Songbijit and Saoraigwra are suspected to be hiding in Myanmar, under the patronisation of NSCN (Khaplang).
The anti-talks faction of NDFB has been facing a crackdown over the past few months, especially since they butchered Adivasis in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur in 2014. The NIA has since arrested 86 NDFB (S) members from Assam and other north-eastern states, of which 63 have been chargesheeted. According to estimates, the strength of NDFB (S) currently stands at around 150 cadres now, down from 300-400 a couple of years ago. Since the Modi government came to power, the security forces have been going all out against the militant outfit. The continuous crackdown by the NIA, local police and the Army has hit the outfit hard in the last couple of years and their activities are under watch.