Mizoram remained relatively peaceful barring minor incidents of violence by the Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM). The activities of the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) have now ended with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the outfit and the Mizoram Government on April 26, 2005.
Among the major incidents of extremist-related violence in 2006 are:
January 11: The Mizoram Armed Police outpost is attacked by the BLFM cadres at New Kawnpui in the Mamit district.
February 6: One BLFM cadre is injured in an encounter with the Mizoram Police near Sihthiang hamlet in the Mamit district.
February 12: The dead body of a civilian, suspected to have been killed by unidentified militants, is recovered from the western outskirts of capital Aizawl.
March 2: An unidentified Bru militant, while trying to extort money from the civilians, is shot at and wounded by police personnel at Thaiudawr in the Mamit district.
March 15: A powerful bomb is exploded by unidentified militants near the office of the Director of Land Revenue and Settlement at Aizawl. However, no casualty is reported.
March 17: Police personnel kill a hardcore militant of the BNLF, Jaingba Reang, during an encounter at Dhalaicherra in the Mizoram-Tripura border area.
Counter-insurgency measures yielded, among others, the arrest of four top leaders of the BLFM, including its ‘president’ Vanlalliana, ‘vice-president’ Vanrama, ‘army chief’ Romawia Meska and ‘lieutenant’ Lallawma, from different places of the State on April 22, 2006, by a joint team of the Mizoram Police and Assam Rifles.
The MoU between the BNLF and Mizoram Government remained the highpoint of 2005 since it ended an eight-year old insurgency. More importantly, the INR 286.5 million financial package that came along with the MoU, paved the way for the possible repatriation of nearly 40,000 Bru (also known as Reang) refugees who had made six relief camps in the North Tripura District their homes since their flight from Mizoram in October 1997. This led to the surrender of 195 BNLF militants, including the outfit's president Surjya Moni Reang and general secretary Solomon Prophul Ushoy, before the Mizoram Home Minister Tawnluia at the Sidan transit camp in West Tuipuibari on July 25, 2005. However, the MoU has remained unimplemented due to a variety of reasons including the opposition by the BLFM, which expressed unhappiness at being ignored in the peace brokering. It demanded a separate deal with the government, which the latter did not accept. Several Mizo organizations, like the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), are opposed to the return of the refugees.
On August 8, 2005, BLFM militants abducted an engineer, Charanjeet Singh and a labourer, Zoramsanga from the Teirei hydel project and demanded a ransom of INR 20 million for their release. The Mizoram Government, however, refused to accede to the demands of the BLFM. On October 20, the BLFM released both abducted persons.
The wherewithal of the outfit, however, has been on a constant decline. At least 38 BLFM cadres led by ‘vice president’ A. Zoramthanga surrendered before the Assam Rifles authorities at Kanchanpur subdivision in the North Tripura district on March 16, 2006. Arms and explosives deposited by the militants included 14 weapons comprising 7.62mm SLR, 9mm revolver, 303 rifles, point 22 revolver and country made rifles, grenades, explosives, detonators and ammunition. The surrendered militants included ‘deputy chief of army staff’, ‘general secretary’, two ‘majors’, one ‘senior advisor’, three ‘lieutenants’ and two ‘military intelligence wing cadres’ of the outfit.
Further on April 21, 2006, Mizoram Police, in a joint operation, codenamed ‘Black Hound’, with the Assam Rifles stationed in North Tripura District arrested three top leaders of the BLFM along with a self-styled lieutenant. The militants were identified as BLFM president Vanlalliana of Tuirum, vice-president, Vanrama of Tuipuibari, ‘army chief’ Romawia Meska of Damparengpui and lieutenant Lallawma of Tuipuibari.
The outfit, according to intelligence sources, still maintains about 20 cadres, most of who are without any sophisticated arms. The existing arms are believed to be ‘on loan’ from the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), with whom the BLFM shares some operational understanding. This provides the outfit some measure of nuisance value. For example, on June 9, 2006, BLFM militants abducted Elvis Chorky, President of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People Forum, from Santipur village near the Mizoram-Tripura border. Chorky, who contacted malaria, was released on July 4 after being held captive for more than three weeks. BLFM cadres continue to indulge in occasional acts of extortion in the bordering villages of Tripura and Mizoram. Earlier, on January 11, a Mizoram Armed Police outpost was attacked by BLFM cadres at New Kawnpui in the Mamit district. Reports in August 2006 indicated a nexus between the BLFM and Manipur-based Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA). The alliance envisages supply of arms by the ZRA to the BLFM. It also involves mutual co-operation in carrying out guerrilla raids in their respective strongholds.
In 2005, counter-insurgency measures in Mizoram yielded the following:
January 7: Seven Meghalaya-based Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) cadres surrendered before the Border Security Force (BSF) authorities in Mamit district.
May 17: Utpal Deb Barma, ‘intelligence coordinator’ of the NLFT, is arrested by the Mizoram Police from Vairangte.
June 8: Mizoram Police arrests 12 cadres of the Chin National Confederation, including the outfit’s vice-president Fungkung and treasurer Vanling, from the State capital Aizawl.
November 12: An unspecified number of grenades and ammunition and Myanmar currency worth 1,31,000 kyat is seized from Tlangsam village in the Champhai district.
December 15: Arms and explosives, including five China-made SAR rifles, 300 M-16 rounds, one AK-47 magazine and 50 GTC 40 mm bombs, are recovered from the border village of Zokhawthar in the Champhai district.
In order to facilitate the process of repatriation of Bru refugees currently staying in Tripura, the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, announced a relief package of INR 286.5 million at Aizawl on January 29, 2006. Further, the State Government has reportedly envisioned an amount of INR 770 million for repatriation of both Bru refugees and the rehabilitation of Bru militants.
On March 14, 2006, Mizoram Home Minister Tawnluia is reported to have expressed concern over the infiltration of Myanmarese into the State. Tawnluia disclosed that as many as 4,071 Myanmarese were given short-duration entry passes for jobs between March 2004 and June 2005 when the practice of border-hopping was temporarily suspended. He further said that that these foreigners, most of whom were fortune hunters, were overstaying their entry permits, which were valid only for a month. Intelligence sources in Aizawl pegged the number of such infiltrators in Mizoram at 25,000.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, while expressing concern over the increasing criminal activities along the State’s porous border with Myanmar and Bangladesh, urged the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil at a meeting in New Delhi in March 2006 to take effective steps to curb the cross-border crime. He also highlighted the presence of Myanmarese insurgents and the frequent influx of illegal migrants from that country. On June 24, 2005, the Mizoram Police launched ‘Operation Hailstorm’ against the Myanmarese rebel outfit, the Chin National Front, in the southern parts of the State and recovered several arms and ammunition.
There are also indications that Mizoram territory is being used to ferry illegal arms and ammunitions to other parts of the northeast from Southeast Asia as well as Bangladesh. On December 15, arms and explosives, including five China-made SAR rifles, 300 M-16 rounds, one AK-47 magazine and 50 GTC 40 mm bombs, were recovered from the border village of Zokhawthar in the Champhai district. Earlier, on May 21, 2005 a Bangladeshi national, identified as Lalmuankima, was arrested from Phuldungsei along the international border with Bangladesh along with a Chinese manufactured SAR rifle, 339 rounds of ammunition, 100 rounds of US carbine ammunition and three 40 mm high explosive shells.