Assam to raise jungle battalion to counter insurgency

Guwahati, Aug 17 (UNI) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the government will soon raise a special jungle battalion to take on the insurgents in remote, forested areas of Karbi Anglog, North Cachar, Sivsagar and Tinsukia districts.

''The fresh recruits will be specially trained in the Jungle Warfare School of the Indian Army at Vairangate in Assam-Mizoram border. I hope to raise the unit within next six months,'' he said.

Assam would be the first state to have such a battalion, he added.

Earlier, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had the Special Task Force to nab the forest brigand Veerappan, which was disbanded after the killing of the notorious smuggler.

The Centre had assured support in the formation of the new force, he said adding that Union Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had asked the state government to raise the police infrastructure in Karbi Anglong, which has only six police stations currently. ''Now it is being raised to another six beside additional 13 out posts,'' he said.

The district had been witnessing repeated violence over the years with the militants targetting Hindi-speaking labourers, mostly Biharis, settled here for decades.

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