Arms haul & narcotic trade: Who is Liana?
Our BureauSILCHAR/GUWAHATI, July 6: The police in Barak Valley has stepped up its vigil along the Asom-Myanmar border following two consecutive seizures of arms and ammunition while being transhipped to an unknown destination through Mizoram in recent times. The police suspects the involvement of a powerful narcotic racket behind cross-border smuggling of arms by using the Barak Valley as the transit route.Cross-border arms smugglers have been using the Myanmar border with Mizoram to penetrate into India in view of the adverse political situation in Bangladesh, police sources said. The detention of a Shillong-bound Bolero pick-up van (ML 05 D 1186) by the Excise Department of Mizoram at Verengtei check point, close to Asom-Mizoram border, in the wee hours of Saturday yielded seven AK-47 rifles, one rocket launcher and a cell, 10 rounds of 9 mm cells and a G-3 rifle magazine. The driver of the vehicle, a tribal youth, managed to slip away. The Mizoram Police launched an operation in the jungles of Verengtei and sought the cooperation of the Assam Police.Last night’s arms haul came close on the heels of the seizure of a consignment of arms recently from a Silchar-bound vehicle in Mizoram last week. According to sources, the consignment of arms was, in fact, coming from Thailand through Myanmar. The destination of the consignment was Northeast India, sources said.Police suspects that a notorious narcotic trader, Liana, is acting as the arms dealer along the international border. According to high-level police sources, Liana is a Burmese currently controlling the entire illegal arms deals. He stays in Mizoram.Liana, a short statured man with a bulky body, speaks Mizo fluently, the sources said, and added that he had been arrested by Kolkata Police with Rs 32 lakh Indian currency from Dumdum Airport, six months back. He was released later. According to sources, Liana was arrested when he had gone to Kolkata to purchase chemicals. Liana regularly supplies chemicals to Thailand through Bangladesh for manufacturing narcotics, sources said. The police also has information that one Pradhan, a Nepali person, is acting as Liana’s agent in Guwahati.Intelligence sources in Barak Valley said the arms seized at Verengtei last night might be meant for the ATTF and the Bru militant outfit. According to sources, the arms smugglers have been frequently using the Dimagiri-Kamalpur-Lailapur and Verengtei-Bhairabi routes to penetrate into India.According to information, the Bolero with a Meghalaya number plate was spotted by the residents of Champai, a frontier town with Myanmar, while moving in a suspicious manner a few days ago. The incident has raised relevant questions and exposed holes in the security system of the sensitive State. Did the vehicle have a valid permit (ILP) to enter Mizoram? How could it move in and around Champai freely and collect arms and ammunition from across the border and proceed without any hassle through several check gates on the way? source: sentinel assam
Our BureauSILCHAR/GUWAHATI, July 6: The police in Barak Valley has stepped up its vigil along the Asom-Myanmar border following two consecutive seizures of arms and ammunition while being transhipped to an unknown destination through Mizoram in recent times. The police suspects the involvement of a powerful narcotic racket behind cross-border smuggling of arms by using the Barak Valley as the transit route.Cross-border arms smugglers have been using the Myanmar border with Mizoram to penetrate into India in view of the adverse political situation in Bangladesh, police sources said. The detention of a Shillong-bound Bolero pick-up van (ML 05 D 1186) by the Excise Department of Mizoram at Verengtei check point, close to Asom-Mizoram border, in the wee hours of Saturday yielded seven AK-47 rifles, one rocket launcher and a cell, 10 rounds of 9 mm cells and a G-3 rifle magazine. The driver of the vehicle, a tribal youth, managed to slip away. The Mizoram Police launched an operation in the jungles of Verengtei and sought the cooperation of the Assam Police.Last night’s arms haul came close on the heels of the seizure of a consignment of arms recently from a Silchar-bound vehicle in Mizoram last week. According to sources, the consignment of arms was, in fact, coming from Thailand through Myanmar. The destination of the consignment was Northeast India, sources said.Police suspects that a notorious narcotic trader, Liana, is acting as the arms dealer along the international border. According to high-level police sources, Liana is a Burmese currently controlling the entire illegal arms deals. He stays in Mizoram.Liana, a short statured man with a bulky body, speaks Mizo fluently, the sources said, and added that he had been arrested by Kolkata Police with Rs 32 lakh Indian currency from Dumdum Airport, six months back. He was released later. According to sources, Liana was arrested when he had gone to Kolkata to purchase chemicals. Liana regularly supplies chemicals to Thailand through Bangladesh for manufacturing narcotics, sources said. The police also has information that one Pradhan, a Nepali person, is acting as Liana’s agent in Guwahati.Intelligence sources in Barak Valley said the arms seized at Verengtei last night might be meant for the ATTF and the Bru militant outfit. According to sources, the arms smugglers have been frequently using the Dimagiri-Kamalpur-Lailapur and Verengtei-Bhairabi routes to penetrate into India.According to information, the Bolero with a Meghalaya number plate was spotted by the residents of Champai, a frontier town with Myanmar, while moving in a suspicious manner a few days ago. The incident has raised relevant questions and exposed holes in the security system of the sensitive State. Did the vehicle have a valid permit (ILP) to enter Mizoram? How could it move in and around Champai freely and collect arms and ammunition from across the border and proceed without any hassle through several check gates on the way? source: sentinel assam
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