Kokrajhar/Guwahati: About 20 suspected militants of the anti-talks faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) abducted six WWF-India volunteers at gunpoint from the Labanyapur area of Ultapani reserve forest which falls under the Manas Tiger Reserve. The place where the incident took place straddles Kokrajhar and Chirang districts in the western part of Assam and is near the India-Bhutan international border.
The WWF-India volunteers, who were abducted on Sunday evening, were identified as Gautam Kishore Sarma, Pranjal Saikia, Syed Naushad Zaman, Sharavan Goswami, Tarali Goswami and Pallavi Chakrabarty. Except for Pallavi who is from Shillong, the rest are from Assam.
Four forest staff who accompanied the volunteers were, however, left free by the abductors. The volunteers were working in the area since last month, and were about to finish their work in the next couple of days.
The needle of suspicion pointed towards the proscribed anti-talks faction of NDFB. The NDFB (anti-talks), which recently sent feelers to the state government on its intention to hold peace talks, has a strong presence in Ultapani and its adjoining areas along the international border.
Naushad, a 25-year-old bachelor from Golaghat, did his Masters in tourism from Gauhati University. "He joined Aranyak at its Tezpur office two months ago," said his brother-in-law Syed Manzoor Kadir.
Security forces said the abduction could be a retaliation against the anti-insurgency combing operation in the area, which is about 60 km from Kokrajhar, the headquarters of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
Sources said the abductors have refused to talk till the combing operation is withdrawn.
"We are in constant touch with the BTC and the state government for the release of the volunteers. We hope that some good news will reach us soon," said WWF-India programme director Sejal Woraj to TOI from New Delhi.
In the meantime, an intensive search operation has been launched for res-cuing the abducted volunteers. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which mans the India-Bhutan international border, has been alerted of the abduction incident along with Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bhutan government.
Kokrajhar superintendent of police P K Dutta, the BSF commandant and SSB officials are camping in the border area and monitoring the search operation to secure the release of the six volunteers.
Kokrajhar additional superintendent of police H Das said the search operation has been intensified. Das, however, did not name the militant group involved in the abduction. "We intensified our search operation soon after we received the complaint about the abduction from the forest department," Das added.
Transport minister Chandan Brahma along with speaker of BTC, Paniram Brahma, BTC deputy chief Kampa Borgoyari and BTC executive member James Basumatary on Monday visited Ultapani in a bid to win over the abductors and secure the release of the WWF volunteers.
The transport minister told mediapersons that the incident was most unfortunate as the volunteers have been working for the benefit of the BTC area and have no enmity with anyone. Rather, they have offered their services to the BTC forest department. He appealed for immediate release of the kidnapped WWF activists unconditionally.
Sources said BTC deputy chief Kampa Borgoyari has been able to contact the abductors over phone, possibly on Bhutan SIM cards (as the area does not have Indian network coverage), and directly appealed for their safe release. Though what transpired over the phone call was undisclosed, sources said the abductors have demanded the operation by security forces against them be halted so they can negotiate and release the volunteers.
Several conservation NGOs in the northeast have demanded the safe and early release of the abducted volunteers. In a joint statement, WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India, Aaranyak, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Dolphin Foundation and EcoSystems-India, said the volunteers were students from the region who were engaged in tiger population estimation work in Manas Tiger Reserve as a part of an all-India exercise.
"These volunteers are innocent students. The conservation of wildlife and forests is of utmost importance for our society and these organisations have requested everyone's support in this regard," the statement said.
Ultapani, a 34-km drive from National Highway 31, is known for its en-demic golden langurs among other rare and endangered wildlife species. The place is also famous for butterflies.
In July last year, four SSB personnel including an assistant commander were ambushed and gunned down by the anti-talks NDFB faction in a for-ested area near the Bhutan border in Chirang district. The anti-talks fac-tion was also involved in the abduction and subsequent release of Ma-harashtra forest official V S Bardekar. He was abducted from a village in Arunachal Pradesh and later released at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district of Assam.
The WWF-India volunteers, who were abducted on Sunday evening, were identified as Gautam Kishore Sarma, Pranjal Saikia, Syed Naushad Zaman, Sharavan Goswami, Tarali Goswami and Pallavi Chakrabarty. Except for Pallavi who is from Shillong, the rest are from Assam.
Four forest staff who accompanied the volunteers were, however, left free by the abductors. The volunteers were working in the area since last month, and were about to finish their work in the next couple of days.
The needle of suspicion pointed towards the proscribed anti-talks faction of NDFB. The NDFB (anti-talks), which recently sent feelers to the state government on its intention to hold peace talks, has a strong presence in Ultapani and its adjoining areas along the international border.
Naushad, a 25-year-old bachelor from Golaghat, did his Masters in tourism from Gauhati University. "He joined Aranyak at its Tezpur office two months ago," said his brother-in-law Syed Manzoor Kadir.
Security forces said the abduction could be a retaliation against the anti-insurgency combing operation in the area, which is about 60 km from Kokrajhar, the headquarters of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
Sources said the abductors have refused to talk till the combing operation is withdrawn.
"We are in constant touch with the BTC and the state government for the release of the volunteers. We hope that some good news will reach us soon," said WWF-India programme director Sejal Woraj to TOI from New Delhi.
In the meantime, an intensive search operation has been launched for res-cuing the abducted volunteers. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which mans the India-Bhutan international border, has been alerted of the abduction incident along with Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bhutan government.
Kokrajhar superintendent of police P K Dutta, the BSF commandant and SSB officials are camping in the border area and monitoring the search operation to secure the release of the six volunteers.
Kokrajhar additional superintendent of police H Das said the search operation has been intensified. Das, however, did not name the militant group involved in the abduction. "We intensified our search operation soon after we received the complaint about the abduction from the forest department," Das added.
Transport minister Chandan Brahma along with speaker of BTC, Paniram Brahma, BTC deputy chief Kampa Borgoyari and BTC executive member James Basumatary on Monday visited Ultapani in a bid to win over the abductors and secure the release of the WWF volunteers.
The transport minister told mediapersons that the incident was most unfortunate as the volunteers have been working for the benefit of the BTC area and have no enmity with anyone. Rather, they have offered their services to the BTC forest department. He appealed for immediate release of the kidnapped WWF activists unconditionally.
Sources said BTC deputy chief Kampa Borgoyari has been able to contact the abductors over phone, possibly on Bhutan SIM cards (as the area does not have Indian network coverage), and directly appealed for their safe release. Though what transpired over the phone call was undisclosed, sources said the abductors have demanded the operation by security forces against them be halted so they can negotiate and release the volunteers.
Several conservation NGOs in the northeast have demanded the safe and early release of the abducted volunteers. In a joint statement, WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India, Aaranyak, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Dolphin Foundation and EcoSystems-India, said the volunteers were students from the region who were engaged in tiger population estimation work in Manas Tiger Reserve as a part of an all-India exercise.
"These volunteers are innocent students. The conservation of wildlife and forests is of utmost importance for our society and these organisations have requested everyone's support in this regard," the statement said.
Ultapani, a 34-km drive from National Highway 31, is known for its en-demic golden langurs among other rare and endangered wildlife species. The place is also famous for butterflies.
In July last year, four SSB personnel including an assistant commander were ambushed and gunned down by the anti-talks NDFB faction in a for-ested area near the Bhutan border in Chirang district. The anti-talks fac-tion was also involved in the abduction and subsequent release of Ma-harashtra forest official V S Bardekar. He was abducted from a village in Arunachal Pradesh and later released at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district of Assam.
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