Arunachal Pradesh Police Bust Major Militant Recruitment and Arms Racket

In Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, police have broken up a dangerous group that recruits militants, moves weapons, and engages in crime crossing the border. This group is tied to the National Socialist Council for Taniland and its armed group, the United Tani Army (UTA). “Taniland” is a proposed state for the Tani community, which includes several tribes living mainly in Arunachal Pradesh near Assam.

The investigation started in January when police noticed threatening videos and letters on social media from a leader, Anthony Doke, who is wanted for 20 crimes. The police registered a case based on this. They arrested several people who were trying to recruit young people from struggling communities into the UTA and were found violating gun laws.

Police received reports that some of these people were trying to take a boy from the Tarasso area to a militant training camp in Myanmar. They discovered that at least three other boys had already been taken from Itanagar for forced training. Two of these boys managed to return and shared scary stories about their experiences, which included severe abuse and bad living conditions during training.

The police have filed charges in this case, but are still investigating. On April 30, officials arrested someone tied to another group, NSCN-KYA, who was stealing money from contractors to support insurgent activities. They also found weapons and bullets. During questioning, this person talked about a weapons trafficking network in Itanagar connected to militants in Nagaland. More arrests were made, and police found more weapons and cash.

In response, police opened a second case against the broader group involved in hiding and spreading illegal weapons. The investigation also revealed links between the arms group and a drug network near Itanagar. This led to a third case, where police arrested two individuals and seized drugs during follow-up actions.