Three United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA) militants have been nabbed by the Army and Assam Police in a search operation conducted in the Kokrajhar district of Assam. All the three detained men, identified as Zehrul Islam (36), Javed Ali (36), and Ajit Ali (30), belong to the Bongaigaon district of Assam.
“Tiptoed by an information, a joint team of the Army and Police launched an operation in Nayekgaon area of Kokrajhar and apprehended the trio who were moving around in a suspicious manner,” a defence personnel reported. He further added that seven rifles have been recovered from the militants by the security forces. The militants were also allegedly involved in extortion and arms dealing activities.
The trio has admitted their involvement as link men and gunrunners in MULTA. Reports also suggest that MULTA was formed in the year 1996 and is reportedly among the 14 terrorist outfits operating in Assam. MULTA along with Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam (MULFA) is a part of All Muslim United Liberation Forum of Assam (AMULFA).
The primary motive of MULTA is to mobilise the Muslim youth residing in Assam to fight for those who have been “labelled” as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The outfit has its ties with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and even laid its foundation in North-East India under their aegis. They have been reportedly operating in Dhubri, Morigaon, Darrang and Nagaon districts of Assam. The reports also suggest that MULTA aims to spread the separatist ideology across the state and eventually create a nation-state similar to ISIL. MULTA cadres also follow various militancy programs that are prevalent in the restive region of Jammu and Kashmir.
