DIBRUGARH: As many as 14 rebels, belonging to different factions of the NSCN, have laid down their arms in Arunachal Pradesh.
The NSCN rebels surrendered at Longding in Arunachal Pradesh.
Longding district, along with Tirap and Changlang, are infamous for being a safe haven for different insurgent outfits, especially the NSCN factions.
Among the 14 surrendered NSCN rebels, as many as 10 belonged to the Isak-Muivah (IM) faction of the NSCN.
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According to reports, the surrendered rebels of the NSCN were mainly involved in extortion activities for their respective outfits.
The concerted efforts, relentless pursuit and human approach of Longding police at grassroot levels under the Operation Mainstream initiative to convince the insurgents to come over ground and join the mainstream has paid dividends as this is the highest simultaneous surrender in history of Tirap, Longding and Changlang (TCL) region of Arunachal Pradesh.
According to police, the surrendered cadres were engaged in extortion and collection of taxes. They were all holding influential positions and had been working actively for the outfit.
Notably, in recent times, many rebels belonging to different insurgent outfits of the Northeast region of India have laid down arms and returned to the mainstream.