After “missing” for more than six months, Kailash Koch alias Keshab Roy, general secretary of the rebel group Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO), surrendered before the West Bengal Police on Thursday. The DGP welcomed the rebel leader after he surrendered.
Amidst the process of starting peace talks between the government and the KLO, there were reports in the media that on February 9, the Bangladesh Armed Forces had arrested Kailash from somewhere in Bangladesh.
The KLO had earlier claimed that the rebel group’s first-line leader Kailash and his family were being kept in a secret location and tortured. However, administration sources do not confirm such claims.
After surrendering, Kailash said, “We have given up the weapons as that was not the way. We have come on the call of Mamata Banerjee. My wife and I returned to the mainstream of society and surrendered to return to normal life. I have been in armed conflict for 16 years. Therefore it is necessary to understand that no development is possible through violence. I call upon all my friends and brothers who are still armed in the jungle to lay down their arms and come back.
“Leave that path and come, the policy of the government is to come and surrender. Others will also come, I believe,” said DGP Manoj Malviya, who welcomed Kailash and his family.
Since last year, after Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Assam, the organization had expressed its willingness to engage in peace talks, which they welcomed.
Meanwhile, a top intelligence officer of Assam Police said, “We are probing Kailash’s case history to see if any case is registered against him. If there is any, we will take further action.”
According to the report, Kailash belongs to Serfunguri area which comes under Kokrajar district of Assam.
According to sources, more KLO leaders are in touch with the Bengal government and will surrender. Experts believe that KLO leader Jeevan Singha circulates videos demanding separation, but Kailash’s surrender will be seen as a major setback for his movement.
The KLO is a far-left insurgent group based in western Assam and Bengal, whose aim is to liberate Kamtapur from India. The proposed state includes six districts in West Bengal and four adjoining districts of Assam which include Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur and Malda, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara, Kishanganj district in Bihar and Jhapa district. Nepal.
The KLO was formed to address the problems of the Koch Rajbanshi people such as mass unemployment, land alienation, alleged neglect of the Kamtapuri language, identity and economic deprivation. KLO came into existence on 28 December 1995.
Tamir Das alias Jiban Singha Koch is the chairman of KLO. He was arrested in October 1999, but regained control of the organization after other KLO cadres were released by the Assam Police to surrender.
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