The well defined routes through the North East that links the infamous Golden Triangle of Southeast Asian countries of Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand are best suited for this illegal trade. Once D-Company is able to take complete control of the lucrative business, this will not only help it to establish a hold in the region but also aid and abet the militant outfits with bases in Myanmar. It will further add to the worries of security forces, engaged in routing out militancy from the region.

This development has come to light with the seizure of consignments of narcotic substances during the last few months by Narcotic Control Bureau of Kolkata. These were meant for South Africa, Australia and other countries. These consignments were recovered on specific tip offs from courier agencies. The way the packets are sent using orthodox methods to camouflage the identity of the contraband goods, as an official pointed out, indicated the involvement of highly skilled expertise and professional acumen. The origin of the narcotics could not be ascertained, but there was no dispute that the Northeastern route was used for their transportation.

It is to be recalled that sometime back, both BSF and Assam Rifles in identical reports described the long stretches of the Indo-Myanmar border touching Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh as highly sensitive and vulnerable to smugglers with national and international links as well as militant groups. Of concern is the free run of these anti national and anti social elements through Manipur and Mizoram to smuggle out not only contraband goods but also arms and ammunition. D gang is making use of the unguarded and porous border. Delhi is yet to take effective steps with Yangon for interceptions and checks.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sleuths have been trying to track down the drug barons and their operatives in Manipur as well where heroin manufacturing has come up. This has been admitted by NCB regional director Vijay Shahasane at a media conference in Imphal recently. These drug manufacturing units make their location difficult to pinpoint as they keep on moving from one place to another. The value of heroin per kg in the international market is `1 crore. It has been discovered that drug barons from China, Myanmar and Nepal are financing illegal poppy cultivation in the inaccessible hilly areas of Manipur. Between January and November 2011, NCB seized a large quantity of marijuana, heroin, opium and other intoxicants valued at `900 crore in the international market. There is every possibility that D-Company might be on the lookout for an opportunity to take control of the lucrative business.

The earlier seizures of narcotics and other contraband goods revealed the involvement of some notorious smugglers identified as Pakhi Mia, Munna Musalman and others, besides unscrupulous tribals of the Northeastern region. However, the recent seizures and the modus operandi alerted the narcotic bureau officials and the intelligence sleuths who are confident of this being the handiwork of D group.

The racket is well organised with key men posted at strategic locations beyond North East as the route passes through the chicken-neck corridor for easy access to Nepal, Bengal and Bangladesh. The neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bangladesh are safer for the trade. Of course, the friendly regime of Sheikh Hasina has no doubt made the operations of such gangs difficult. A Bangladeshi gangster close to the arch rival of Dawood, Chhota Rajan, who after camping in Kolkata, slipped into Nepal with security forces in hot pursuit is adding a new dimension to the murky affair. This has raised the intriguing question of whether Rajan’s gang is also becoming active in the frontier and eastern region.

 

The entry of Dawood and Rajan in the eastern frontier has to be viewed with deep seriousness. Its ramifications can hardly be missed, considered against the improving law and order situation across the once turbulent region. With almost all major and minor extremist groups now at peace with a virtual mandate for normalcy, the Union Home Ministry has to evolve an effective strategy to firmly crush the likely emergence of the dangerous D company in coordination with all the states of the North East region. Particular focus of the intelligence agencies has to be on Kolkata that has often been a safe haven for anti national elements.

 

Dawood’s looming shadow is all the more of concern due to intelligence reports about China as the biggest source of arms for the militants of the North East. Again Mynamarese based rebel groups, Karen National Union (KNU), Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and Kachin Independent Army (KIA) help the North East extremist groups to procure these arms as well as those produced in western countries such as US, Germany, Austria and Sweden. The arms deals along with narcotics take place in Thailand, Combodia and Phillipines. Top NSCN (IM), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and United National Liberation Front (UNLF) leaders, Anthony Shimray, Ranjan Daimary and Raj Kumar Meghen, besides ULFA, during interrogations admitted their links with arms agents across South East Asia and a deep nexus with narcotics smugglers through KNU, ALP and KIA.

It is with the help of these rebel groups that the North East outfits procure arms and ammunition from the Chinese arms dealer China North Industries Corporation which are smuggled through the Sino-Mynamar border and then to the North East. KNU leader Col Soe Soe, Karen militia front-liners Tho Tooley, Mo Thu and Mae Sot play vital roles in defining the strategy in the highly volatile zone. They are also believed to be behind the narcotics business. Intelligence agencies are piecing together the various clues, though still sketchy, and are trying to find out if Dawood’s men have access to them. The possibility of this can not be ruled out, considering the well pronounced anti-India stance of the notorious underground don.

Jyoti Lal Chowdhury