Assam Rifles personnel nab 13 NSCN-IM cadres, recover arms

Dimapur (Nagaland), Jan 19 (IANS) Assam Rifles personnel deployed in remote Mon district of Nagaland have arrested 13 armed cadres belonging to the Isak Muivah faction of the NSCN and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from their possession, a defence official said on Thursday.

The 13 National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) cadres were arrested while they were travelling on the Mon-Tizit highway on Wednesday, an Assam Rifles spokesman said.

"During routine checking, our personnel stopped two vehicles and recovered four AK-56 rifles, two HK-32 rifles, one MA-MK4 rifle, four pistols and a good number of live cartridges. The two vehicles were boarded by 13 persons," the spokesman added.

"They were later identified to be cadres of the NSCN-IM. We have handed them over to the police, who will be interrogating them," he said, adding that as members of the ceasefire group they are not supposed to travel with arms and ammunition.

Although over 80 rounds of talks have taken place between the government of India and the NSCN-IM since 1997, yet no solution is in sight.

The outfit had recently signed a 'framework agreement' with the government, the clauses of which are yet to be made public.

Soon after the signing of the framework agreement, the NSCN-IM as well as the central government have claimed to be getting closer to the final settlement and that the talks have been progressing in the right direction.