Correspondent
BOKAJAN, Jun 02: Altogether 39 cadres of the armed group Adivasi People Liberation Army (APLA) today surrendered before the Assam Rifles and Assam Police at the Bokajan police station. The surrender programme of the armed persons was attended by IGP Debojit Bhattacharjee, DIG SK Sukla, Karbi Anglong SP Sanjib Kumar Saikia, Assam Rifles’ Major Anand Riddy, SDPO Bokajan John Das and other officers.
The surrendered cadres were led by APLA commander-in-chief Sahil Munda, Augustine Gogoi @ Amar Singh Karmakar. They submitted 4 AK47, 4 SLR, 2 Carbine, 20 Pistols, large numbers of live ammunition and two grenades. IGP Debojit Bhattacharjee and DIG SK Sukla accepted the arms submitted.
Addressing the event, IGP Debojit Bhattacharjee that several Adivasi youths took up arms and chose extreme ways to fulfill their demands. They had many issues they wanted the govt. to address. After a long time of going away from mainstream society, they have changed their minds and have chosen peaceful ways to continue their fight for their rights. He thanked the APLA cadres for their decision.
APLA C-in-C Sahil Munda said that he is hopeful of a fruitful discussion with the Govt. of Assam. His team had talked with the Assam Rifles, Assam Police and Karbi Anglong Police for early talks with the govt.
It may be mentioned that the APLA was formed in 2019 with around 105 cadres. However, several of them have been apprehended by police in the past and 39 have surrendered today. Even after that, it is believed that many cadres are still in the hide-outs.