Assam: 1000 Bru militants to surrender arms in Hailakandi on December 12

Nearly 1000 Bru militants will be surrendering their arms and joining the mainstream during a formal arm-laying ceremony in Assam’s Hailakandi district on December 12, according to reports.

Hailakandi Superintendent of Police Nabaneet Mahanta while speaking on the development said that the members of the United Democratic Liberation Front of Barak Valley (UDLFBV) and Bru Revolutionary Army of Union (BRAU), who are currently on a ceasefire, will formally lay down their arms at Katlicherra, 28 km from the state border with Mizoram.

Assam Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary and Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs minister Pijush Hazarika will attend the ceremony.

The Superintendents of Police of the Hailakandi, Cachar, and Karimganj districts have been requested to display the arms that will be surrendered by the militants during the ceremony.

The Centre, the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura, and the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) had reached an agreement in 2018 regarding the repatriation of Bru families and had begun negotiations with the organizations to return to the mainstream.

The police said that both militant groups were active in the 1990s along the Assam-Mizoram border, particularly in the Hailakandi district. They were alleged to have been involved in the murder of BJP leader Pratul Deb, who had returned to India from London after retiring, as well as cases of extortion, kidnapping, and other illegal activities.

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