NSCN (K-YA) cadre nabbed near Assam-Nagaland border

Dibrugarh: A joint team of Assam Police and Assam Rifles apprehended an NSCN (K-YA) cadre near the Lahdoigarh iron bridge in Charaideo district, close to the Assam-Nagaland border on Thursday.The arrested individual has been identified as self-styled “sergeant major” Wangpoi Konyak, 25, a resident of Namcha village in Nagaland’s Mon district. Two pistols, 57 rounds of live ammunition, three detonators, one packet of PEK — a highly potent RDX-based plastic explosive — and 26 walkie-talkie sets were recoverd from his possession.It is the sheer volume of communication equipment that has left security forces puzzled. “The recovery of 26 walkie-talkie sets from a single cadre is baffling,” said a senior security official, adding that investigators are working to determine the intended use of the devices and whether they were meant to facilitate coordinated operations across the Assam-Nagaland border region.The NSCN (K-YA), a faction of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland, has been designated a banned organisation and is known to be active along the volatile border zones of Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.Konyak is currently being interrogated at Sonari Police Station in Charaideo district. Security has been tightened along the Assam-Nagaland border following the arrest, with additional surveillance measures put in place ahead of the elections.