NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT OF BODOLAND- RANJAN DAIMARI (NDFB-R)

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FRONT OF BODOLAND- RANJAN DAIMARI (NDFB-R)

The anti-talk faction led by Ranjan Daimari, however, didn’t show any interest in talks and the outfit carried on with its disruptive activities. On 4 October 2009, they killed 11 persons and injured 12 others in an attack in Bhimajuli village at Balisang area under Biswanath Chariali police station in Sonitpur district. On 10 December 2009 the cadres of the anti-talk faction of NDFB triggered two powerful explosions, including a grenade attack, in two busy markets in Sonitpur district killing four people and leaving at least 34 people wounded. The rivalry among the pro-talk and anti-talk factions also increased resulting in fratricidal killings.

The anti-talk faction of NDFB received a big blow when its leader Ranjan Daimari was arrested in Bangladesh and later handed over to Indian authorities on 1 May 2010. During interrogation he confessed that the October 30 serial explosions in Assam that killed about 90 people and wounded more than 300 people were carried out under his express instructions. He also said that he is ready for peace talks and would be able to make his commanders and cadres surrender if New Delhi was keen for negotiations.

On 27 May 2010, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) personnel arrested four members of anti-talk faction of NDFB, directly involved in the October 2008 serial explosions in Assam.

The anti-talk faction of NDFB is still carrying on its violent activities in the State. On 8 July 2010 the outfit triggered a powerful blast that flung the locomotive and two coaches of Kolkata-bound Garib Rath Express from the tracks, killing a six-year-old boy and injuring 23 others at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district. On 26 July 2010 it killed four jawans of the Sashastra Seema Bal and injured two others in an ambush at Amlaiguri in Chirang district bordering Bhutan. The faction then carried out a violent attack between 8 and 10 November 2010, killing 23 people in 11 separate attacks across five Bodo dominated districts of Assam. The killings were in retaliation to the killing of a NDFB anti-talk faction cadre on 8 November 2010 by the 51 Gorkha Regiment of the Indian Army. Earlier, on 1 November 2010, the anti-talk faction had issued a warning to the State Government that if any NDFB cadre was killed by the Indian Army in the name of fake encounter, the armed wing of the NDFB will take action against any Indian.

The anti-talk faction of NDFB suffered another major blow in December 2010 when security forces arrested its deputy commander-in-chief B Jwangkhang alias George Boro in Aizawl, Mizoram. He is one of the key accused of 30 October 2008 serial bomb blasts in Assam. He is now in judicial custody. On 1 August 2011, the NDFB-R faction declared a unilateral ceasefire, but counter-insurgency operation against the outfit continued due to its involvement in several subsequent incidents of violence. The NDFB-R headed for a split as I. K. Songbijit, the ‘chief’ of Bodoland Army (the armed wing of the faction), announced the formation of a nine member “interim national council” on 20 November 2012, with Songbijit as its self-proclaimed “interim president”.

Ranjan Daimary was released from jail on bail in June 2013 to expedite the proposed talks between the NDFB and the Government of India. On 29 November 2013, the Ranjan Daimary faction of the NDFB and the Government of India signed formal ceasefire agreement thus paving the road to peace talks.