Mizoram (Insurgency North East): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2014

70 Bru tribals from at least three villages in Mamit District have fled to Tripura or taken refuge in nearby villages for safety after Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), a powerful students’ union begins a mass voluntary search operation from January 14, reports The Indian Express. The move comes days after three men, a Kolkata-based telecommunications professional and two Mizoram-based drivers were abducted near the Indo-Bangladesh border on November 23, 2013 by National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants aided by Bru militants. The abductors had demanded INR 50 million for their release and set a deadline of January 15, 2014 but the Mizoram Government ruled out paying any such ransom saying it will set precedence. The exodus took place from at least three villages including Damdiai, Tumpanglui and New Eden in the past few days as Bru families fear a repeat of the 1997-Bru-Mizo ethnic violence. Read less...

State Government officials on January 15 said that around 250 Reang tribals, including women and children, have fled to Tripura from nearby western Mizoram, reports The Shillong Times."Out of fear and because of prevailing tension, around 250 tribal people have fled to Tripura from nearby Mamit district in western Mizoram Monday and Tuesday," North Tripura District Magistrate Prashant Kumar Goel told IANS by phone. He said: "Tripura officials have immediately rushed to Kanchanpur along the Tripura-Mizoram border (195 km north of Agartala) and Mizoram officials are also coming to the areas where the refugees are now staying. Officials of both the states would persuade the refugees to return to their villages in Mamit district."Goel said that he has already talked to his Mamit district counterpart and requested him to take appropriate steps to take back the tribals to their villages -- Damdiai, Tumpanglui and New Eden. Tension was prevailing in Reang-dominated villages in Mamit district over the kidnapping of three people Nov 23 last year by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants, aided by suspected Reang militants. Read less...

Two Mizos, Sanglianthanga and Lalzawmliana, who were abducted along with a non-tribal, Deep Mondal, by the Bru militants and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) on November 23 2013 were released on January 15, reports Times of India. The trio was abducted by NLFT and Bru National Development Front of Mizoram (BNDFM) from the abandoned Chikha anti-poaching camp inside Mamit district's Dampa Tiger Reserve on the Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border. Police said the three persons were held captive inside Bangladesh for 55 days. Deep Mondal, who worked with a private telecom company, has not been released yet, a senior state Police official said. "The released hostages and their guides are likely to reach the Mizoram-Bangladesh border by Friday. They were kept in a forest in Bangladesh as the abductors feared the state police might make a rescue attempt," the official said. Read less...

After the exodus of about 900 Bru tribals from Mizoram to neighbouring Tripura in the last three days, the Mizoram administration has agreed to provide security to Bru families in the western part of Mizoram to prevent more Brus from leaving Tripura, reports Times of India. This decision was taken at an officer-level meeting at Kanchanpur in North Tripura on Janaury 15.North Tripura District magistrate and collector Prashant Kumar Goel said, "About 247 Bru families comprising 900 people from three villages of western Mizoram have fled to Tripura in the past three days." Following this, the district administration held urgent meetings with their Mizoram counterpart for safe repatriation of the families and action to prevent fresh exodus. Read less...

Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) ‘president’ A Sawibunga alleged that a group of Mizo youths perpetrated violent against Brus living in Damdiai, Tumpanglui and New Eden villages on January 13, accusing the latter of maintaining clandestine relation with banned militant outfits, reports Times of India. "They beat up the Brus and set at least 13 house on fire, forcing the Bru families to flee the place and take shelter in camps in Tripura," he alleged. Read less...

Over 2,423 Bru (Reang) tribals, including women and children, belonging to Reang tribe in Mizoram, have taken shelter in Tripura, reports Tripurainfo. An official in Agartala said, “Over 2,423 men, women and children comprising 368 families late Sunday evening took shelter in four villages in Tripura," a Tripura relief department official told IANS.He said: "Civil and top police officials of Tripura government have rushed to the areas and officials from Mizoram government are expected to come to persuade the refugees to return their villages."Tension was prevailing in Reang-dominated villages in Mamit district of western Mizoram over the kidnapping of three people Nov 23, 2013, by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants aided by suspected Reang militants. Read less...

The two Mizo drivers who were abducted on November 23, 2013 returned to Mizoram on January 21 after spending 60 days in captivity in the jungles of Bangladesh, reports The Telegraph. The two men, Sanglianthanga and Lalzamliana, were brought to Silsuri, a border village in western Mizoram. From there, they were brought to Mamit, said Mamit Superintendent of Police (SP), Rodingliana Chawngthu.Taxi driver Sanglianthanga of Mamit and truck driver Lalzamliana of Kolasib were jointly abducted by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and Bru National Democratic Liberation Front of Mizoram, along with 25-year-old telecom professional Deep Mandal, a resident of West Bengal. Mandal is yet to be released, Police officials said. Mizoram Home Minister, R. Lalzirliana said Tripura police had arrested two of the 12 kidnappers. Six of the abductors were NLFT cadres and the rest belong to the Bru outfit. Lalzirliana said the NLFT handed over the two Mizo hostages to the Mizoram police team. R. Lalzirliana expressed disappointment over the failure to rescue Mandal. He said continued efforts would be made to secure Mandal’s release. Read less...

Student associations and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) s in Mizoram on January 22 issued a strong warning to a group of Bru rebels operating in the State, reports Times of India. The group has allegedly been involved in abduction of Mizos and other non-tribal people working in the State. The student organizations and the NGOs said that such crimes in future would result in a major confrontation. The Mizo Students' Union (MSU) said, "If anyone is again kidnapped for ransom by the armed Bru members, they would have to face serious repercussions."The stern warning came on the day when two Mizos, who had earlier been kidnapped by members of the Bru National Democratic Front of Mizoram (BNDFM) and National Liberation front of Tripura (NLFT) cadres on November 23, 2013, reached Aizawl after their release. Read less...

The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the apex Mizo student body, also warned the BNDFM members saying any abduction by Brus in the state could trigger a serious communal flare-up.The MZP said all-out efforts would be made to secure the release of Mondal and also urged the state government to take all steps to ensure his release."People from outside who have come to Mizoram for development activities should be kept safe and should also feel safe if the state needs to walk the path of progress," MZP president Lalhmachhuana said, adding that peace and tranquility would bring in prosperity. Read less...

Police in Mizoram have begun investigations against a Bru leader and a national newspaper that quoted him as saying Mizos had burned down more than a dozen Bru houses and assaulted members of the minority community two weeks ago, reports Nagaland Post on January 27. A senior Police Official from Mamit District in western Mizoram said investigators have found no evidence of Mizos burning Bru houses or assaulting members of the Bru tribe and is seeking replies from both the newspaper and the Bru leader. Read less...

Mizoram Chief Minister (CM) Lal Thanhawla has said his Government is keen to take back the Bru refugees sheltering in makeshift camps in Tripura for the past 17 years, reports The Shillong Times. “We are always ready to take back the refugees from Tripura and rehabilitate them in their villages. Those refugees, who have returned to their villages, were rehabilitated and are living peacefully and satisfactorily,” Lal Thanhawla told reporters on January 28. Read less...

A meeting of major Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) urged the Central and the State Governments of Mizoram and Tripura to ensure that all the inmates of the Bru relief camps in Tripura return to Mizoram by the end of February 2014, reports The Shillong Times. In a press statement issued in Aizawl on January 29, the NGOs namely, Young Mizo Association (YMA), Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) [Mizo Women’s Association], Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP) or [Mizoram Elders Association] and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) [Mizo Students Federation] said “that the relief camps were breeding grounds for armed goons indulging in a series of murder, abduction and extortion.” “Those who were remaining in the camps making different pretexts should be repatriated on or before February end,” the statement said, adding that appropriate authorities should take action expeditiously. Read less...