Imphal, October 17 2009: Lt gen NK Singh, AVSM, VSM, General Officer Commanding, 3 Corps has said that operation at Loktak to flush out insurgents from the lake will be carried out again at any opportune moment.

He was replying to a journalist's question during a media interaction with the GOC on the occasion of releasing a book titled "3 Corp's Kaleidoscope: The North East Palette" at Rangapahar Military Station near Dimapur in Nagaland on the evening of October 15 .

The GOC said, it's true that the military operation carried out recently at the Loktak lake was a great success.

However, Loktak is not like any other lake where a boat can easily cover.

There are too many cultivations, and it's possible that some of the underground insurgents were still hiding out there.

But the Army is using sophisticated tracking system to keep track of their movement on the lake, he said.

Regarding the existence of camps of the insurgent outfits of Manipur in Myanmar, Lt Gen NK Singh said that there are different kinds of camps of the insurgent outfits in Myanmar-transit camps, permanent camps and training camps.

Some camps are there with sanction of local authority, he said.

The GOC, 3 Corps further said that Army has brought up the issue at various levels of the Myanmar authority.

The Myanmar government has been very supportive and cooperative.

The Chief of Army Staff, Gen Deepak Kapoor had been to Yangon, Myanmar on a three day visit from October 11 to 13 and had discussions with the highest level of authority there, Lt Gen NK Singh informed the journalists from different parts of the North Eastern region.

He further said that some UG camps which were set up near the India-Myanmar international border withdrew far back into Myanmar territory due to operations launched by the security forces recently.

The GOC did not rule out launching a major operation along with the cooperation of Myanmar authority to flush out the insurgent camps of the North East in Myanmar.

Expressing sadness over the current crisis in Manipur which came about after July 23 incident of Khwairamband market, Lt Gen NK Singh said that prior to July 23, there was good progress in Manipur in respect counter-insurgency operations.

But due to the developments that followed the incident, the situation in Manipur is somewhat bad.

He lamented that the students of Manipur valley have not been able to attend school due to the class boycott stir called by a few student organisations for over one month now.

However, the Government of Manipur is opening new channels to resolve the crisis.

Hopefully, it will be over soon, the GOC said adding that once the problem is resolved, the Army and Para Military organisations will try to bring the situation in Manipur to that which prevailed prior to July 23 .

It may be mentioned here that 3 Corps looks after the security aspects including counter-insurgency operations and protection of territorial integrity of India in six North Eastern states namely, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Southern Assam.

The GOC, 3 Corps said that by and large, the situation in Tripura is normal.

In Arunachal Pradesh also, the situation is normal.

The recent assembly election was peaceful.

The voter turn out was really large.

In Mizoram, there is complete peace, he said.

In North Cachar Hills in southern Assam, the leadership and cadres of DHD(J) had surrendered.

The security forces are dominating the areas there, he said.

In respect of Nagaland, the Union Home Secretary, GK Pillai was in the state recently.

A political package is being prepared by the Government of India, and it will be ready by the end of November.

The Government of India is sincere in arriving at a solution, Lt Gen Singh said.

He clarified that the ceasefire with the NSCN-IM is effective only in Nagaland.

Actions are taken and NSCN-IM cadres are arrested elsewhere.

The NSCN-IM and other groups are using Arunachal Pradesh as their trasit areas, he said.

Replying to a question from a journalist about the whereabouts of ULFA supremo Paresh Baruah, Lt Gen Singh said, all reports about him being in China or India-Myanmar border or elsewhere are mostly speculative and not authentic.

There are agents tracking him.

There is no report of Paresh Baruah having official contact with China.

But there could be clandestine contacts between him and certain agents, the GOC said.

Before the media interaction, Lt Gen NK Singh released a 240-page book containing well-researched articles and breath-taking photographs on people, cultures and region of the six North Eastern states.

The book, a special edition, which is not for sale, was published by Headquarters 3 Corps.

The photographs were taken by Kunal Verma and Dipti Bhalla and also by Ministry of Defence and 13 Mechanised Infantry (18 Rajput).

The team leader is Brig Souresh Bhattacharya, VSM.

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