Jewel garlosa is in police custody after his arrest

Finally an elusive armed rebel of Assam in Northeast India falls prey to the police.

A notorious rebel, who continued mayhem in the North Cachar Hills district of Assam was arrested in Bangalore. The capture of Jewel Garlosa, who led Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction) or commonly known as the Black Widow group, on June 4 last helped the people of the State to breathe a sigh of relief. The dreaded insurgent turned terrorist Garlosa masterminded a series of killing, extortion, kidnap and other criminal conspiracy in the hills district during the last few years.

While Jewel was trapped by the Central Crime Branch of Bangalore police and the Assam police team in the garden city, his closed associate Frankie Dimasa was killed in Guwahati on the same night.

Frankie, who served DHD (J) as its foreign secretary was traced at Bishnu Nagar Hill of the city and finally the city police eliminated the rebel in an encounter. Three of his associates however succeeded in fleeing with the cover of darkness.

The news of Garlosa's arrest (with his deputy commander Partha Warisa and fund raiser Samir Rehaman) from a reputed construction company guesthouse on Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore was astonishing. As the hill district grabbed media attention for the uninterrupted killings, burning of houses and also attacks on railway trains for the last few months, the general understanding was that Garlosa was camping in some of his hideouts inside the district.

But soon after his arrest, the police disclosed that Garlosa was out of the State for few months. The Assam police chief GM Srivastav revealed that Jewel was operating from Kathmandu and was coming to Bangalore for receiving his passport. Following the specific information, the State police chief sent a team led by the deputy inspector GP Singh to the Karnatak capital. The special police team had to wait for a week there to nab Garlosa, who was coming down from the Nepal capital.

From a lower middle class family of Haflong, the head quarter of NC Hills, Garlosa materialized himself as a skilled armed leader to raise voice for the Dimaraji, a homeland for the Dimasa people. Though Dimasa is a major ethnic group of NC Hills district, it gives shelter to other communities like Zeme Naga, Kuki, Hmar and Karbi people. It has a sizable number of Bengali and Hindi speaking as well as the mainstream Assamese population.

The college drop out Garlosa was involved in Dimasa National Security Force (launched in 1993) and later initiated to form the DHD in 1995.

Till then most of the DNSF members surrendered to the authority.

After the split of DHD (following the difference with the chairman Dilip Nunisa, who went for a ceasefire agreement with New Delhi), Garlosa concentrated on the Black Widow since 2006. He maintained cordial relationship with the NSCN (I-M) and also the leaders of ULFA & NDFB.

The police suspect he has nearly 200 loyal armed cadres.

With the small group of cadres, Garlosa continued his disruptive activities in the isolated hills district. The Black Widow is made responsible for killing not less than 100 civilians and armed force personnel in the last two years including the former chief executive member of NC Hills Autonomous District Council, Purnendu Langthasa with another executive member Nindu Langthasa. The gun totting rebels of the banned outfit disrupted repeatedly the 214 km Lumding- Silchar railway gauge conversion works. Similarly, the 184 km East-West Corridor project officials faced never ending demand for ransom followed by abduction and murders by the DHD (J) cadres.

The cruelty of Garlosa was not confined to others. His former two wives were also exposed to atrocities by the militant leader, who abandoned his first wife Champa Nunisa. Garlosa got his second wife Bontha Thaosen killed in suspicion that she initiated an extra marital relationship with an armed force personal. The third wife of Garlosa is known to be a Nepali woman, reportedly a drug addict and presently living in Kathmandu.

Incidentally, the chief executive member of the NC Hills Autonomous District Council Mohit Hojai was earlier arrested with the charge of paying money to the Black Widow. Later another former CEM of the Council Depolal Hojai and the joint director of social welfare department R H Khan were also booked under the law for financing the militants to procure arms.