As many as 35 cadres belong to the Adivasi People's Liberation Army (APLA) will reportedly surrender themselves and return to mainstream on Thursday.
The militants will be surrendering themselves in Jorhat or Golaghat district, sources informed, adding that currently the group is camping at an undisclosed location in Merapani town.
The group will lay down their arms and surrender themselves on the direction of APLA commander in-chief Sahil Munda, sources further informed.
The tribal rebel outfit has contacted senior police officials of the area in regards to the same.
Recently, over 1,100 militants belonging to eight Adivasi rebel groups laid down their arms and returned to mainstream. Out of the eight groups, three are said to be splinter groups that were created following a split within the party.
The ceremony was held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati’s Panjabari area which was attended by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, officials of the Home Department, and Assam Police.
The Adivasi groups include - All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), ANNLA (FG), Birsa Commando Force (BCF), BCF (BT), Santhal Tiger Force, Adivasi Cobra Militant of Assam (ACMA), ACMA (FC), and Adivasi People’s Army (APA). Since 2016, these groups had been on a ceasefire agreement.
The militants surrendered over 304 sophisticated arms and 1,460 round of ammunition including - 7- AK-47 rifles, 20- .303 rifles, 4- SLR rifles, 4 carbines, 2- G3 rifles, 1- Insas rifle, 1- LMG, 124 pistols, 30 Semi automatic rifles, 20 grenades, 10- IEDs, 2kg RDX and 2.5 kg TNT.
These Adivasi extremist organisations surrendered before the Government on January 24, 2012 and later on signed the agreement of Suspension of Operation (SoO) on October 4, 2016. Since the signing of Soo agreement, several rounds of talks were held between these groups and the Govt, and subsequently, on September 15, 2022, the Adivasi Accord was signed between these groups and the Centre and Assam government.
