The Hindu : Top PLA ultra held in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 17, 2002

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National

Top PLA ultra held in Delhi
By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 16. A top member of the extremist People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur, who had come to Delhi to motivate Manipuri students to join the outfit, was arrested along with an accomplice in South Delhi last night.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Ashok Chand, said following a tip-off that a PLA terrorist of captain rank was hiding in the Capital, a team started gathering information in the first week of March. On information that the ultra, Brojen Singh, had his hideout at Kotla Mobarakpur, the team raided the place and arrested him along with his associate, Ibotombi Sapam. A laptop, a personal computer, a revolver and Rs. 30,000 were recovered from their possession. During interrogation, Brojen said he was also the chief of the `external affairs' department of the Revolutionary People Front (RPF), the political wing of PLA. RPF has been declared unlawful under the Unlawful Activities Act, whereas PLA has been banned under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO).

Brojen said that after joining the PLA in 1988 he crossed over to Bangladesh and then to Myanmar where he was trained in the handling of weapons and guerilla warfare. The training camp is run by the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland. After the training, he came back to Manipur. In December 1990, he and his counterparts were intercepted by the Army in the Selshi Hills. Several PLA terrorists were shot down in that encounter but he managed to escape.

In retaliation, he along with other terrorists ambushed a police convoy on Ukhrul Road near Sawombung Thong Khong and killed four police personnel and six civilians. Brojen was charged with sedition and arrested in 1994. But he managed to secure bail in 1996 and fled to Bangladesh. In January 2002, he was contacted by the PRF president and commander-in-chief of PLA, Choren Singh, who instructed him to go to Delhi. His task was to motivate Manipuri students residing in Delhi.

Ibotombi Sapam said his sister, Nalini Devi, who has been associated with the PLA since 1982, motivated him to join the outfit. He was instructed to come to Delhi in 1997 and set up hideouts for terrorists. He completed his Diploma in Journalism from IGNOU and did his Master's in Mass Communication from Hissar in Haryana. Mr. Chand said both the accused were remanded to police custody for 10 days.

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