Weapons seiz were for north-east mi

[aungsan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Weapons seized were for north-east militants

- consignment originated from Cambodia.
- 74 gun-runners cought during the operation were cambodians, mymareases

 and Thais.


By Dinesh Kumar
The Times of India News Service

NEW DELHI: The consigrtinent of weapons intercepted on Longoff island in

the Andamans on Wednesday originated from Cambodia and was transported
via Thailand.  It was headed for Bangladesh for onward distribution to
insurgent groups in the northeast, particularly the National Socialist
Council of
Nagaland (NSCN) and the People's  Liberation Army(PLA), highly-placed
sources here said.

Priliminary iterogation, the sources added, revealet that many of the
74 gun-runners cought during the operation were cambodians, mymareases
and Thais.

"There is certain information we cannot give owing to the sensitivity of
diplomatic relations involved," said Assistant Chief of Naval Staff
Operations, Rear Admiral Madanjit Singh at a special tri-service
briefing
 at South Block here when asked about the gun-runners' identity and the
source and destination of the weapons.

The sources said that the NSCN is known to have established bases in
Thailand from where they have been bringing weapons along a land route
via Myanmar, notwithstanding the current ceasefire with the NSCN.  These

weapons, they added, could have been sold to the LTTE, kashmir-militants

and religious fundamentalist groups in the country.

The 145 guns seized included US-made M-16, M-61 and M-79 rifles, AK-47
rifles, rocket launchers and .50inch heavy machine guns, 10
communication
sets and 40,000 rounds of assorted ammunition.  The two trawlers and two
smaller boats used by the gun-runners were fitted with anti-aircraft
guns.

Although this is the first joint operation against gunrunners in the
Andamans, the Rear Admiral said he could not rule out past use of this
route.
Speaking to journalists here, Rear Adm Singh said a major surveillance
operation was mounted, all escape routes were sealed and Army and Marine
commandos prepositioned on the island in the joint operation involving
 the Army, Navy, IAF and the Coast Guard after rveceiving specific
information about the gun-runners from the military intelligence.

"We learnt that gun-runners coming from east of the Andamans were headed

for an uninhabited island located about 120 nautical miles from Port
Blair and less than 50 nautical miles from Myanmar.  The island was
meant to be a transit point from where weapons were to be put on smaller

boats for onward delivery elsewhere," he said.

The Navy positioned six ships, including three from the Coast Guard,
around the island and quietly deployed less than 200 soldiers and Marine
Conmandos on the island.  The first and third element of soldiers was
sent by ships and
the second element slithered from Air Force helicopters.  "Our strategy
was to let them come ashore and then spring a surprise - a short
firefight in which six of them were killed," said military operations
additional director-general Maj Gen S C Chopra.

The Navy despatched marine commandos and two ships - a frigate and a
patrol vessel from Vishakapatnam - to reinforce force levels in the
Andamans and flew some operational planning staff from New Delhi, he
said.


The Times of India
Date 13 feb 1998






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