Myanmar government claimed it had arranged for Mr Khaplang’s treatment in Yangon
Sources said the security agencies may ask the government to take up the matter of Mr Khaplang's presence in Yunan with the Chinese government at the diplomatic level
Guwahati: As the Indian Army and security forces intensify the vigil on the Indian insurgent groups operating from Myanmar, NSCN(K) chief S.S. Khaplang has been traced to Yunnan province of China, where he is being treated in a hospital.
While the Myanmar government claimed it had arranged for Mr Khaplang’s treatment in Yangon, the intelligence agencies have got inputs indicating the presence of Mr Khaplang at Ruili, a Chinese border town.
Authoritative security and intelligence sources told this newspaper that the 75-year-old separatist leader was in regular touch with Ulfa’s elusive chief Paresh Baruah, and that Mr Khaplang was undergoing treatment for diabetes complications in the Chinese hospital.
The sources said the NSCN(K) chief was believed to be keeping a close watch on the situation on the ground. Mr Khaplang, who was born in April 1940 in Waktham village, east of Myanmar’s Pangsau Pass, is also in touch with his commanders in Myanmar from his hospital bed. Mr Khaplang, who belongs to the Hemi Naga tribe of Myanmar, has two homes — one in China’s Yunnan and one in Myanmar.
Sources said the security agencies may ask the government to take up the matter of Mr Khaplang’s presence in Yunan with the Chinese government at the diplomatic level. The agencies have stumbled upon some hard facts indicating the growing movement of Indian insurgent leaders to border towns in China with the help and support of some local conduits.
The security agencies claimed Ruili was the headquarters of the newly-floated joint platform of Northeast rebel groups — United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia. Security sources noted that Ruili was a border town where the traders converged, some to ply new businesses like buying and selling Chinese-made appliances, as well as to launder money and smuggle Burmese heroin into China. The sources added that the Chinese government may have been in the dark about the growing illegal trade, with Ruili virtually turning into a township for the mafia.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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