Home ministry believes 83 rebels killed in June 9 Army operation

NEW DELHI: Even as there is no official confirmation yet on the casualties suffered by NSCN(K) and other insurgent outfits in Tuesday's Army crackdown on their camps in Myanmar, intelligence reports with the home ministry indicate that at least 19 insurgents killed on Tuesday were given a soldier's farewell on Thursday , with a burial in the presence of a Buddhist religious leader.

The information regarding the burial of insurgents' bodies in the presence of a lama came from intelligence assets both on Indian and Myanmar side of the border, said a home ministry official. The ministry has also learnt from multiple sources, including those based in villages dotting the Myanmar-Manipur border and trusted aides in touch with Myanmar officials, that around 49 bodies were removed from the site where the camps stood after the Army raid flattened them. In addition, as many as 60 injured cadres were shifted out in 12-13 vehicles to safer locations in Kalemyo, Mandalay and beyond.

The estimated 68 casualties in PLA and Manipur Naga Revolutionary Front camps across the Manipur border is over and above the 15 NSCN(K) insurgents believed to have been killed as they vacated a camp across Nagaland-Myanmar border soon after the Army special forces struck on Tuesday , a source told TOI.

Home ministry officials insist their casualty estimates are credible since they are based on ground reports collated after speaking to local villagers and sources in touch with the Myanmar army and intelligence agencies.There were inputs that the search for bodies has not been abandoned yet. The officials claimed that the figures are more or less corroborated by ground reports collected by Military Intelligence.

Reports coming in a day after the raid had indicated that 30 insurgents were killed and six injured. This figure was further revised to 38 killed and 12 injured. However, fresh intelligence inputs on Friday pointed to a much higher casualty figure at 68 killed in camps across Manipur and 15 across Nagaland, besides 60 injured.