Guwahati: Proscribed rebel outfit Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) chief Jeevan Singh has claimed that formation of the separate Kamtapur State is just a matter of time.
In a message sent to different media persons on Friday, KLO chief Singh also thanked the Centre for taking positive steps in fulfilling the long-standing demand for a separate Kamtapur state.
In his message, Singh claimed that Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur state became a part of India following a merger- agreement on August 28, 1949.
The Intelligence agencies believe that Singh is hiding somewhere in Myanmar,
He also expressed hopes that the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee too will extend full cooperation on this issue.
However, the Trinamool Congress leadership does not want to extend any sort of importance to such comments from Jeevan Singh.
The North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha claimed that it is easy to send such messages hiding in jungles in some foreign country.
“But such threats do not mean anything and we are attaching no importance to it,” he said.
Fresh movements in north Bengal over the separate Kamtapur state following a fresh message from underground by Jeevan Singh have gained significance in the backdrop of the elections for the three-tier panchayat system in the state scheduled to be held next year.
Kamtapur state is proposed to be forked out of Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur districts in West Bengal; and Goalpara, Dhubri, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar districts in Assam; Kishanganj district in Bihar; and Jhapa district in Nepal.
In the past, there had been instances of armed movement over this demand by KLO, which came into existence in December 1985.